SAN ANTONIO (Sept. 1, 2010) — Killing cancer isn’t as simple as shooting sporting clays out of the sky, but lining up teams to do just that is one way Vulcan Materials employees and their families contribute to the fight against cancer.
On Saturday, Sept. 11, more than 350 shooters will line up to compete for prizes at the 17th Annual Vulcan Materials Funshoot ranging from high-end electronics to exclusive hunting packages. The organizers will donate all proceeds to the Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
Organized and run almost entirely by Vulcan employees and family members, the Vulcan Materials Company 17th Annual Funshoot is personal to several who have lost colleagues or loved ones to the disease, or battled it themselves.
Alma Martinez, an executive assistant to the vice president at Vulcan, has long been involved in fundraising, so it was natural for her to take up Funshoot duties when she started working there three years ago. But this year her father was diagnosed with cancer. CTRC has been there for her family, she said, and this is her chance to give something back.
“One of the things has been really nice — every person that you talk to says ‘If you need anyone to talk to, or you need anything, you call me,’” Martinez said. “You kind of feel that love, that they really care.”
Vulcan business solutions analyst Tom McFadden had already been helping run the Funshoot for years before he learned he had cancer in 2004. McFadden knew he didn’t want surgery. But he went through three doctors who recommended that path before he landed at the CTRC, where a doctor told him he could treat it without cutting out all McFadden’s lymph nodes. McFadden chose chemotherapy and radiation over surgery, and six years later, he is cancer-free.
“We’ve got one of the best places in the country right here,” he said.
WHAT: More than 350 people will take part in Saturday’s Vulcan Materials Funshoot
WHEN: Saturday, September 11, 2010, 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Best time for cover video/interviews is between 1 – 3 p.m. Event will happen rain or shine.
WHERE: National Shooting Complex
5931 Roft Road
San Antonio, TX 78253
WHO: CTRC Executive Director Dr. Ian M. Thompson Jr., M.D. will be competing in the event at 8 a.m.. Vulcan employees available for interviews throughout the day are Darren Hicks, Tom McFadden and Oscar Benavides, who is bilingual.
AUDIO/VISUALS:
- 8 a.m. -11 a.m., and 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sporting clay shooting in two rounds.
- 2:00 – 2:30 p.m. Availability for interviews with CTRC Executive Director Ian M. Thompson, M.D.
- 2:30-3:00 p.m. Leaders from Vulcan Materials and CTRC speak briefly
- 3:00-4:00 Live Auction and winners of shooting competition announced
Vulcan Materials Company, a member of the S&P 500 Index, is the nation’s largest producer of construction aggregates, a major producer of asphalt mix and concrete and a leading producer of cement in Florida. For more information, visit their Web site at www.vulcanmaterials.com
The Cancer Therapy & Research Center (CTRC) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio is one of the nation’s leading academic research and treatment centers, serving more than 4.4 million people in the high-growth corridor of Central and South Texas including Austin, San Antonio, Laredo and the Rio Grande Valley. CTRC is one of a few elite 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 world leader in developing new drugs to treat cancer, The CTRC Institute for Drug Development (IDD) is internationally recognized for conducting the largest oncology Phase I clinical drug trials program in the world, and participates in the clinical and/or preclinical development of many of the cancer drugs approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration. For more information, visit the Web site at www.ctrc.net.