The Marvin Lewis Community Fund empowers, educates, and inspires individuals in the Greater
Cincinnati region.
Football 101
At Paul Brown Stadium on October 5, 2007, 450 fans learned the basics of football through on-field drills and film study with the Bengals' coaches. The night began and ended with special guests and included a special presentation in the middle.
Former Bengals safety Solomon Wilcots started the evening telling stories from his playing days, to his days as an intern at a local television station, to his current job as an analyst and reporter for the NFL Network. Current Bengals players closed the evening as Chad Johnson made a guest appearance and Rudi Johnson judged a special end zone celebration competition.
Football 101 featured the debut of the pink vans that are part of the MLCF "Cruisin for a Cure - Are ou on board?" campaign. Two 15-passenger pink vans are being used to transport women to the Pink Ribbon Center in Over-the-Rhine where they can receive free mammograms. The partners in the campaign include Baker Concrete, Cincinnati Bengals, Cris Collinsworth ProScan Foundation, MLCF, McCluskey Chevrolet, National City and Radio One.
Tracie Metzger was this year's winner of the Pink Football Award presented by National City and the MLCF. the award is given to a woman who displays extraordinary strength, courage and perseverance to overcome breast cancer.
A mother of two young children when she was diagnosed at age 30, Metzger found the lump during a self-breast examination. Metzger was uncomfortable with the initial diagnosis and insisted on surgery. The lump was removed in September 2000 and found to be malignant.
After going through six months of chemotherapy and a double mastectomy with reconstruction, Metzger decided to do something to help other young women. Along with the help of two other young survivors, she co-founded Pink Ribbons Girls, a supportive network for young women diagnosed with breast cancer, in October 2001. Pink Ribbon Girls are young breast cancer survivors who are educated and inspire others to grow and live beyond breast cancer. Today there are over 300 women who are Pink Ribbon Girls. Visit the Pink Ribbon Girls online at www.pinkribbongirls.org.
