SAN ANTONIO (Sept. 15, 2010) — More than 350 people turned out Saturday, Sept. 11 for the 17th annual Vulcan Funshoot, which this year raised $150,000 for the Cancer Therapy & Research Center at the UT Health Science Center San Antonio.
Held for most of that time at the rolling hillsides of the National Shooting Complex just west of Loop 1604, the sporting clay fundraiser has been a labor of love since 1994 for the employees and leaders of the materials company and has raised more than $1.5 million over the years.
“We’ve all be touched by someone with cancer,” said Tom Ransdell, past president of Vulcan and a member of the CTRC’s board of governors and foundation board.
As the first round of shooters finished up, the dull pops of their shotguns could be heard through the trees.
“Any time you can make noise and break things, it’s fun,” CTRC Executive Director Ian M. Thompson, M.D., said after his turn at shooting clays. “It’s also for a good cause.”
Higher on the hillside, their families and friends, the Vulcan volunteers and the next wave of competitors bid on fishing rods and gun cases at auction or ate breakfast tacos and barbecue in the shade.
Almost 70 teams competed in the shooting competition, starting at $1,000 each. Five teams contributed $5,000 each to compete. These platinum sponsors were AT&T, Komatsu (dealers Waukesha-Pearse and Kirby-Smith), Valero, Alamo I, Urban Concrete and Ryan Construction. The teams raised more than $100,000, while the silent auction brought in more than $5,000 and the live auction contributed more than $36,000, with 100 percent of the net proceeds to benefit the CTRC.
The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the elite academic cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute (NCI) Designated Cancer Center, and is one of only four in Texas. A leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer, the CTRC Institute for Drug Development (IDD) conducts one of the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug programs in the world, and participates in development of cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. For more information, visit www.ctrc.net