ESPN is committed to putting an end to cancer and has been proud to support the V Foundation for Cancer Research ever since ESPN commentator Jim Valvano echoed his famous words, “Don’t Give Up … Don’t Ever Give Up!” at the 1993 ESPYS. ESPN’s dedication has raised much-needed awareness and dollars for critical cancer research, bringing us closer to achieving Victory Over Cancer.
Learn more about the work done by ESPN’s Corporate Citizenship team
V Week is a weeklong initiative across multiple ESPN platforms and programs to help raise funds for the V Foundation. V Week launches on Giving Tuesday. The following night, a simulcast of Jim Valvano’s 1993 ESPYs speech is played on all ESPN domestic media networks. The week includes fundraising messaging in programming and continues with the Jimmy V Women’s and Men’s College Basketball Classics.
ESPYS Week, which takes place each July, is a vision of former ESPN president and V Foundation Board Member George Bodenheimer. It engages viewers in the fight against cancer through fundraising initiatives across multiple platforms, including the ESPYS Week Auction, Celebrity Golf Classic and the Sports Humanitarian of the Year Awards.
John Saunders, a familiar and well-loved on-air face at ESPN for nearly 30 years, was also a founding member of the V Foundation Board of Directors and a tireless supporter of cancer research. To commemorate the many years he spent working to end the disease and his passion for pediatric initiatives, the John Saunders Grant for Pediatric Cancer Research grant was established in his name to support research aimed at stopping children’s cancers.
As popular on the ESPN campus as he was in the studios and on the sidelines he worked for 22 years, Stuart Scott was a longtime champion for the V Foundation for Cancer Research. The Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund will continue to keep his memory alive and assist some of the most vulnerable and disproportionately impacted communities battling this horrible disease.
Learn More Give to the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund
