Community Corner
Swim Team Makes a Big Splash for Breast Cancer Support, Gets a Visit from Ex-Packer
Waukesha North/Kettle Moraine high school students raised over $1000 for breast cancer support and received a visit from former Green Bay Packer LeRoy Butler Tuesday night.
This season, the girls’ Waukesha North/Kettle Moraine swim team had two goals: to be successful in the pool and to raise money for breast cancer support.
This weekend, they’ll face off at sectionals in the pool. Coach Kyle Bedalov said the team should be in good position to finish this season well.
The second goal however, has been already accomplished. The team raised $1013 selling custom t-shirts, donating the money to the Leroy Butler Foundation.
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The former Packer visited the team Tuesday night, letting them know how impressed he was by their actions and celebrating their achievement.
“I applaud all your hard work and can’t thank you enough,” Butler said. “Most kids your age wouldn’t do something like this.”
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Butler recounted how he became involved in breast cancer support (introduced to it by a long-ago fan wearing a pink ribbon and sharing breast cancer statistics) and said that as a father of four girls, it’s a topic that resonates with him.
Butler, who gives the money directly to the recipients, said the girls would be shocked to learn that there are a lot of women, many in this area, who need help. He said that there are a lot of women without insurance to pay for proper treatments – women falling through the cracks, having to make hard decisions about whether to pay bills or purchase prescriptions.
“I don’t want any woman to have to make that kind of decision,” he said. Butler said he has helped 338 women this year and “thousands” since 2005.
The girls, who were just newborns when Butler won his Super Bowl ring and didn’t seem unduly impressed to be talking to an ex- Packer, listened intently when Butler talked about his foundation.
They didn’t have any questions for him, leaving it to Bedalov to ask the tough questions, like this one: With things "the way they are" with the Packers this season, "Are you going to be coming back?”
The crowd of parents and girls laughed along with Butler, who said the Pack’s got a plan for this year that doesn’t include him.
