University of Kentucky women’s basketball associate head coach Kyra Elzy and her husband Dexter Lander in conjunction with head coach Matthew Mitchell and his wife Jenna, presented a $40,000 check to The Pat Summitt Foundation on Monday afternoon as a result of the 2016-17 SEC Win Challenge.
The SEC Win Challenge raises funds to support the foundation’s work with the 2016-17 challenge expanding to include all SEC schools with fans pledging a donation for a respective team’s SEC regular-season wins. Elzy and Lander donated $100 for every SEC regular-season win for Kentucky, while the Mitchell family donated $2,000 for every UK win. Each year, more and more fans have participated in the Challenge. The total amount raised over the last five seasons has topped more than $115,000 in support of the foundation’s fight against Alzheimer’s disease.
“The SEC Win Challenge is something very special to Dexter and I,” Elzy said. “We started it five years ago to honor my late grandmother, who passed away with Alzheimer’s and obviously my college coach in Coach Pat Summitt. I have worked together with a great team in The Pat Summitt Foundation and we have raised a lot of money in the last five years and over $40,000 this year. Thank you to Matthew and Jenna Mitchell for their contribution as well.”
“Kyra Elzy is a champion in the fight against Alzheimer’s disease,” said Patrick Wade, executive director of The Pat Summitt Foundation. We are so grateful that she and Dexter lead this annual fundraiser that has raised substantial funding for The Pat Summitt Foundation’s mission to help defeat Alzheimer’s disease. We are immensely grateful to Matthew and Jenna Mitchell for the tremendous support they have given the foundation over the last several years.”
The Pat Summitt Foundation, a fund of East Tennessee Foundation, was established by Pat Summitt in November 2011. Its mission is to award grants to non-profit organizations that advance research for treatment and a cure, provide support for patients and caregivers, and educate the public on Alzheimer’s disease. In January 2015, The Pat Summitt Foundation formed a strategic partnership with The University of Tennessee Medical Center to create The Pat Summitt Clinic. The Pat Summitt Clinic, which opened in December 2016, will greatly improve access to healthcare services for families and patients facing Alzheimer’s disease in a facility created to advance Alzheimer’s research, detection, treatment, family caregiver support, and ultimately, lead to a cure. To learn more please visit www.patsummitt.org, like us on facebook.com/patsummittfoundation, follow us on Twitter @webackpat and on Instagram @webackpat.
For more information on the Kentucky women’s basketball team, visit UKathletics.com or follow @KentuckyWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat, or Kentucky Women’s Basketball on Facebook.
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Evan Crane
