St. John's University Athletics
QUOTES: Sixth Annual Dribble for the Cure
9/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
St. John's Men's Basketball…
St. John's Head Coach Chris Mullin…
On creating awareness for pediatric cancer research:
"I want to thank Dr. Cairo and everyone else here for supporting the pediatric cancer research foundation. Dribble for the Cure has brought great awareness and funds and over the years Dr. Cairo's research has contributed to the increase in survival rates for child cancer and blood disorders. We encourage you all to keep coming back and keep donating to PCRF."
On giving back:
"Two of my biggest influences in life, Dr. Kaiser and Coach Carnesecca, are here and the biggest thing I was taught on and off the court was to give back. Off the court, that's what St. John's is all about: taking care of your brother. On the court, I tell my guys that and I was taught by Coach Carnesecca that a good player can do for himself but a great player does for other people. And that's what we're all here to do today. I want to thank our survivors, Nathan and John for being here."
Jeri Wilson, Executive Director of the Pediatric Cancer Research Fund…
On St. John's supporting pediatric cancer research:
"Between St. John's and UCLA we hit the $1 million mark raising funds for pediatric research. I've watched this event grow so it's really cool to watch an event from California come out here to New York and be able to pass on the love and generosity that you guys have for the research we've supported for over 35 years."
Dr. Mitchell Cairo, Chief of Pediatric Hematology…
On the fundraising initiative:
"This is the sixth annual St. John's Dribble for the Cure and today we cross the $500,000 mark in fundraising so congratulations to all of you. We have a large program at New York Medical College and Maria Fareri Children's Hospital, and the money raised by St. John's goes to support basic research, translational research and clinical research."
On the progress being made:
"Our program is focused on two really different areas: how do we cure the patient's who are not responding well to traditional therapy and how do we develop therapies that are going to be more gentle and kinder to the patients and their families so they could continue to live better and longer lives. We've made huge progress in that today. I can tell you in the six years that St. John's has supported this event, we've probably increased the curate in children who didn't respond to their initial treatment with maybe a 20 percent survival chance to well over 60 percent now surviving from the research that's been generated with the funds from this event."
Junior guard/forward Bashir Ahmed…
On events like this bringing the team together:
"I'm honored to be here. It's very exciting to be a part of this team. Events like this help build our team chemistry and understand each other better."
On his first impressions of Head Coach Chris Mullin:
"I'm just really happy. I'm really happy to play for an NBA Hall of Famer. He played on the 'Dream Team'. I'm looking forward to learning a lot from him."
Sophomore center Yankuba Sima…
On Dribble for the Cure:
"It's a really special event. We like to help the kids and we know they look up to us. It's always good to have fun with them and see the smiles on their faces."
On the St. John's community:
"It's shows how great this university is. We want to help these people any way we can."
On this event and team bonding:
"Today is about getting the chance to give back to the community. As a team it makes us closer, but it's not all about basketball. It's important to give back to other people."
Sophomore guard Malik Ellison…
On what makes Dribble for the Cure special:
"It means a lot to be here, to be here for the kids and all of the families going through things. It's great to be here with my teammates and for us to bond. The little kids get excited and that's the best part."
On what this event says about St. John's:
"It shows how special this university and this campus is, for us to take the time and help out this cause."
On what it means to participate in this event as a team:
"It humbles all of us, and we cannot take life for granted. We're all just blessed to be living a healthy lifestyle. All of us coming together for this cause is a great way for our team to bond."
On the team's excitement for the year:
"We're very excited and confident. We've all been working hard this summer. It's been a great summer for everyone individually and as a team. We're all looking forward to this year."
St. John's Women's Basketball…
Junior guard Aaliyah Lewis…
On Dribble for the Cure:
"It means a lot to be here. It's great to be here in support of this cause and it's special interacting with all of the kids."
On having the St. John's community come together for this cause:
"It's a wonderful feeling. The people involved can see how special this St. John's family is and how much everyone wants to support them. Everyone is happy to be a part of this cause."
On Jill Christensen's fight with cancer:
"Jill is like a second mother to all of us. She's a strong woman and we knew that she was going to beat it."
On her message to those fighting cancer:
"Stay strong and stay positive."
