TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – For the second straight season, Indiana State Football has teamed up with the Wabash Valley Coaches Association and the PS We Love You Fund to raise awareness for pediatric cancer during the month of September.
 
Like last season, the Sycamores will be sporting gold shoelaces for ISU's season opener tomorrow night (Thurs., Aug. 31) against Eastern Illinois at 7 p.m.
 
In addition to the shoelaces, "Tackle Childhood Cancer" t-shirts will be on sale for $10 each, with all proceeds going toward the PS We Love You Fund at Riley Hospital for Children. Red buckets will also be at each gate for donation collections.
 
The PS We Love You Fund was started in memory of Patrick Stephen Barrett – son of former Sycamore football player (and president of the Wabash Valley Coaches Association) Greg Barrett and his wife, Molly – who lost his battle with cancer in March 2016. The fund helps provide individualized treatment recommendations for children with aggressive cancers. Patrick's two sisters, Maggie and Maureen, will be honorary captains this Thursday.
 
Since its creation, the PS We Love You Fund has raised more than $60,000 for precision genomics testing in individual children at Riley Hospital. Each year, more than 12,500 children will be diagnosed with some form of cancer, and roughly 25 percent will unfortunately not survive.
 
During September of 2016, more than 25 high schools and colleges in Indiana and Illinois participated in raising awareness, helping collect more than $28,000 for the fund – enough to help nine children continue to receive needed treatment and tests. This year, the fund has set a goal of $150,000 throughout the month of September.
 
T-shirts can be ordered HERE, individual donations to the fund can be made HERE, and a full schedule of events for the month of September can be found HERE.