Posted: Tuesday, April 7, 2015 7:45 am
By Brett Ahlin
Photo by Luke Pamer
Junior Josh Pineda is putting on a basketball tournament to raise money for his friend Ramah Walker who was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
Ramah’s Rally is a 3-on-3 event that will take place Thursday April 9th at 7:30pm in the Northwest University pavilion.
Pineda said he came up with the idea of holding this tournament last semester in his persuasive speech class. For his final, he gave a persuasive speech for a hypothetical tournament held at the NU to raise money for his friend with cancer. Pineda said he received a lot of support after the speech and decided that he would make a reality out of his idea that started as nothing more than a school project.
He met with Jon Van Dyke, NU basketball coach, and Andy Hall and got the gym reserved for the event. During the actual tournament there will be t-shirts and wristbands being sold with all the proceeds going straight to the Walker family for treatment. The Walker family will be in attendance at the event.
Melissa Giles who is a graduate student at NU, will be participating in the event. “Ramah’s rally is a fundraiser that I fully support and love that I have the opportunity to be a part of it,” Giles said. “From having cancer hit both of my parents and grandparents on both sides of my family, I’ve experienced the turmoil that cancer drags a family through. I love that as a Northwest student we can partner with our community to raise funds to find new ways to beat cancer.”
If you are interested in getting involved by playing or volunteering at the event email Pineda at joshua.pineada14@northwestu.edu.
Even though this is the first year of the event, Pineda hopes and believes that it can grow and continue.
“Short term I want to raise money for my friend,” Pineda said. “Long term I want to make a difference against cancer entirely. I’m excited that people are going to be able to have fun and participate and make a difference.”
