SEYMOUR – A local nonprofit dedicated to creating a world without pancreatic cancer has teamed up with Seymour High School to bring local basketball games into the mainstream.
Project Purple will begin livestreaming SHS Wildcats Boys Varsity basketball home games on YouTube Wednesday (Jan. 17).
All the remaining home games through February will be livestreamed via Project Purple’s YouTube channel which can be found online at: bit.ly/projectpurplesports.
The next home game is happening at 7 p.m. Wednesday (Jan. 17), where the Wildcats will tip off with Woodland Regional High School.
The next home game is happening at 7 p.m. Wednesday (Jan. 17), where the Wildcats will tip off with Woodland Regional High School.
The Wildcats’ remaining schedule of games can be found online here.
Project Purple’s Founder and CEO Dino Verrelli said the partnership has been a great fit.
“We are excited to help the Seymour boys high school basketball team by streaming their remaining home games,” Verrelli said. “We are hoping to support more and more student athletes in the future.”
Verrelli said Project Purple, in addition to its mission of providing financial aid and hope to patients battling pancreatic cancer and fundraising to aid research in the detection and treatment of the disease, often partners with local groups, schools and other organizations.
Last year, Verrelli said Project Purple teamed up with SHS’ baseball team and provided them with warm-up shirts. Verrelli then turned the nonprofit’s sights to SHS’ boys’ basketball, first by sponsoring their summer league and then providing them with co-branded shooting shirts from New Balance. The idea to livestream the home games came from a parent, and Verrelli said since Project Purple had all the equipment they were happy to lend a hand.
The partnership is a good way to not only support a local program but helps spread awareness about Project Purple’s mission at the same time, according to Verrelli.
“This is part of a larger goal for us to support local student athletes and their teams in communities here in Connecticut,” Verrelli said. “We know that there are families with students in the community impacted by pancreatic cancer, so we want to help those families with building awareness through these types of sponsorships and support.”
Seymour High School’s Athletic Director Cathy Ferderowicz said working with Project Purple has been a great experience.
“Streaming the games allows our fans, who are not able to attend the game, an opportunity to still support and cheer on our basketball program,” Federowicz said. “In addition, our athletic community will have a greater awareness of Project Purple’s mission and their commitment to the fight against pancreatic cancer. It really is a win-win situation.”
Federowicz said she anticipates a strong finish for both SHS’ boys and girls basketball teams this season, as the boys are currently 5 – 4 and the girls are 7 – 4.
“We anticipate a strong finish and look forward to being a force in both the NVL and state tournaments,” she said.
In other Project Purple news, the nonprofit closed out 2023 by dedicating $275,000 for pancreatic cancer research and patient aid, according to a press release.
Verrelli said $175,000 is going to the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute to fund Connecticut’s largest early detection program. Another $50,000 is going to the University of Nebraska Medical Center to fund early detection efforts. The organization also increased its funding of patient aid by $50,000 in 2023, Verrelli said, raising the total to $200,000, the highest single-year total in the organization’s history.
“Project Purple was fortunate to have back-to-back years of record-breaking fundraising,” said Verrelli. “There is nothing we would rather do with that money than put it to work helping those fighting the disease today and those who will face it in the future.”
Verrelli lost his father to pancreatic cancer, and since vowed to fight until the disease is defeated. He created Project Purple in 2010 to raise awareness, funds and support patients and families affected by the disease and help fund research efforts.
To date, Project Purple has funded nearly $3 million in research and provided more than $1 million in aid to help patients undergoing treatment. For more information, visit www.ProjectPurple.org.
