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Home News Area Walgreens donate to Cancer Institute

Area Walgreens donate to Cancer Institute

Published: Monday, July 12, 2010

Recently Doug Hamburger, district manager for Walgreens Knoxville, and area store managers presented a check for $68,485.15 to Dr. Steve Ross, Senior Vice President of Strategic Development, who accepted the check on behalf of Cancer Institute at The University of Tennessee Medical Center.

The check represented money raised from the sale of OUTLIVE T-shirts sold in area Walgreens stores and from in-store donations. This was Walgreens’ first year as a sponsor of the OUTLIVE program. Shirts were sold in area stores from January through March.

“Walgreens’ employees and our customers were the reason for our success with selling the OUTLIVE T-shirts,” said Hamburger. “Our employees believed in the cause and told our customers about OUTLIVE and our customers came through. We have fabulous employees and very generous customers.”

“The Walgreens’ team in East Tennessee really came through in the war on cancer by their total support for the OUTLIVE program,” said Ross. ”Their selfless work in this important effort shows their dedication to our community. We are very proud to be Outlive partners with the Walgreens team and we look forward to taking the field with them again for next year’s campaign.”

UT Basketball Coach Bruce Pearl initiated the OUTLIVE program in 2009. A graduate assistant with the team, Brooks Savage, created the concept in recognition of former Vol star Chris Lofton, who beat testicular cancer through early diagnosis and treatment and went on to play the entire 2007-2008 season while recovering from his battle with the disease. Inspired by Lofton’s story, OUTLIVE raises awareness of cancer prevention and detection while t-shirt sales and donations raise money to benefit cancer patients.

The 2010 OUTLIVE campaign culminated in an “orange out” with Vol fans wearing their OUTLIVE t-shirts and filling Thompson Boling Arena with orange during the Vols home game victory over Kentucky.

The Cancer Institute at The University of Tennessee Medical Center serves as the region’s only comprehensive cancer service that meets its patients’ needs in one location. Each year, the physicians, nurses and specialists at the UT Medical Center Cancer Institute diagnose and treat approximately 1,800 new cases of cancer and record more than 50,000 patient visits. The Cancer Institute provides access to numerous cancer specialists along with advanced technology and treatment options for cancer patients. Patients also are offered the opportunity to participate in an array of oncology clinical trials.