Students walking around campus wearing t-shirts and tank tops sporting the phrase “may the breast team win” are doing more than simply making a fashion statement. They are participating in the Student Athlete Advisory Committee breast cancer awareness program.

The SAAC is a small, student-run organization made up of one to two members from each varsity sports team on campus. Each year, they organize and run a charity fundraiser. This year they chose to donate the proceeds to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation in San Antonio.

This year, during the week leading up to alumni weekend, varsity athletes worked the tables in Coates, selling t-shirts and tank tops for the cure. Profiting close to $4,000 off just these novelties alone, the teams also organized specific events with outside organizations and fundraised during their games.

“The whole athletic department came together to help us out. Last year, no profit was made, they didn’t really sell any shirts, but this year we sold over 300 tank tops and 200 shirts, which caused us to make a significant increase in our profits,” said senior and president of SAAC Jackie Newell.

Athletic teams also worked to come up with unique methods through which to support the fundraising efforts.

“We came up with ways that each sport could raise money individually for breast cancer. Soccer went around and asked local businesses if they would pledge money for goals that we scored during three games in our season. They could cap their donations, but we ended up making over   $2,000,” said Lauren Goldberg, the women’s soccer representative.

Other noteworthy events include the Chipotle Night, “Eat for Change,” where Chipotle donated 50 percent of their profits made from 6-10 p.m. Women’s Volleyball did a Bird Bakery day event where 25 percent of their total profits from 4-8 p.m. were donated to the cure. In addition, Women’s Golf did an event they called “Birdies for Boobies,” and parents and fans pledged money for this cause.

Men’s and women’s basketball also rallied together to run a concession stand at a youth basketball game hosted at Trinity.

“We made about $1,200 from our one-day fundraiser. We got Chick-fil A and Domino’s to donate food, which we sold from 9 a.m.-6 p.m. on a Saturday. Everyone who volunteered from the men’s and women’s basketball team were very helpful and had good attitudes. This year, we had a better approach from the very beginning and had a good game plan. We started planning early on, which allowed us to get more awareness and make more proceeds,” said Hannah Coley, the women’s basketball representative.

The annual tradition of raising money for the fight against breast cancer is one which will continue on, as there are still more rally towels to sell and more money to donate.