By Kourtney Pollard
The Scene staff
The St. Louis Community College women’s basketball team recently played its second charity basketball game to help a cancer patient.
The Lady Archers raised $3,000 for Kane Weinberg, 19, of Trenton, Ill., a student at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He has been battling leukemia for two years.
“It’s incredible that people are willing to do this for me,” said Weinberg, who attended the game in the Forest Park gym. “The support is great.”
Weinberg plans to use the money for gas and medical expenses not covered by his health insurance.
Women’s basketball coach Shelly Ethridge and her sister, Kim Dumstorff, organized the Second Annual Cancer Awareness Basketball Game in memory of their father, the late Mike Ethridge. They are friends with the Weinberg family.
“Judy and Mike were like family to us,” said Kane’s mother, Monique Weinberg, speaking of Mike Ethridge and his wife. “They treated Kane as a grandchild. I know Mike would be so glad to see this money going to help Kane.”
Mike Ethridge was diagnosed with lung cancer on Nov. 11, 2011, after experiencing no symptoms. He died on Dec. 8, less than a month later.
“This was my family’s first experience of what a patient and family members endure to battle this disease,” Shelly Ethridge said.
The charity basketball game took place on Feb. 16. Money was raised through ticket and T-shirt sales and donations at the door.
“This is more than a game,” said basketball player Kirstie Owen, 19, a biology major at Forest Park. “It’s something special.”
Mike Ethridge was a salesman for Continental Bank, a carpenter and a Vietnam veteran. Shelly Ethridge now appreciates his strict discipline, which she called “tough love.”
She and her sister decided to fill the void left by their father’s death by helping other cancer patients. They organized the first charity basketball game in 2012.
“My dad got me started in hoops early,” Shelly Ethridge said. “This was a way to keep my dad’s legacy living on.”
The first game raised $2,500. The sisters gave proceeds to the Weinberg family.
“(Kane) physically looks better than what he is,” Shelly Ethridge said. “But every day is a constant battle.”
Assistant women’s basketball coach Melanie Marcy hopes to see the charity basketball game grow every year.
“I feel like we are coming together for a special purpose,” she said. “Team, school (and) community coming together for a special cause.”
Kane Weinberg has a page on the National Children’s Cancer Society website.) with blog posts at http://nccsonlinecommunity.ning.com/profile/KaneWeinberg.