On Friday, October 18, the Clarkston Wolves and Lake Orion Dragons joined forces during the Football for a Cure charity football game to help benefit individuals and families impacted by cancer. With the combined effort of fans and players, both communities helped in raising over $44,000 in funding. These funds will go to the McLaren Oakland Foundation to help ease non-medical expenses, such as assisting with utility bill payments and transportation costs, for the cancer patients at Karmanos Cancer Institute at McLaren Clarkston and Bloomfield offices. In addition, a portion of the proceeds will go to A Mother's Wish Foundation.
Each player on both the Clarkston and Lake Orion varsity football teams wore a jersey with the name of a person who is currently battling, or who has lost their fight against cancer. At the end of the game, the players honored 121 individuals and their families with a jersey presentation.
The McLaren Oakland Foundation would like to thank the communities of both Clarkston Community Schools and Lake Orion Community Schools, the incredible volunteers and our Football for a Cure sponsors for their support in making this amazing event happen. Carrie Wheeler, manager at the McLaren Clarkston Breast Center, states, “This event would not be possible without the Clarkston and Lake Orion collaboration, both teams and volunteers. Clarkston and Lake Orion put aside their long, historical rivalry to fight together in support of cancer patients. I am so honored to be a part of this event and I know all of the funding recipients truly appreciate this gift.”
About McLaren Oakland
McLaren Oakland is a 328-bed medical center that provides primary and specialty healthcare services to the greater Pontiac and Oakland County community. Founded in 1953, McLaren Oakland has grown to a comprehensive medical community that includes outpatient facilities in Clarkston and Oxford, in addition to an inpatient hospital in Pontiac providing a range of clinical services including emergency and trauma care, cardiology, cancer services, minimally invasive robotic surgery and orthopedic services. With a network of more than 300 physicians, McLaren Oakland owns a network of employed physician offices throughout Oakland County and a nursing home in Lake Orion. McLaren Oakland is a Level II verified trauma center and an accredited stroke center. McLaren Oakland offers AOA approved residency and fellowship programs in anesthesiology, emergency medicine, family practice, general surgery, internal medicine, dermatology, ophthalmology, orthopedic surgery, podiatry, radiology, and otolaryngology and facial plastic surgery.
About McLaren Health Care
McLaren Health Care, headquartered in Grand Blanc, Michigan, is a fully integrated health network committed to quality evidence-based patient care and cost efficiency. The McLaren system includes 13 hospitals, ambulatory surgery centers, imaging centers, an employed primary care physician network, commercial and Medicaid HMOs covering more than 630,000 lives, home health and hospice providers, retail medical equipment showrooms, pharmacy services and a wholly owned medical malpractice insurance company. McLaren operates Michigan’s largest network of cancer centers and providers, anchored by the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute, one of only 49 National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive centers in the U.S. McLaren has 26,000 employees and more than 52,500 network providers. Its operations are housed in more than 350 facilities serving the entire Lower Peninsula of the state of Michigan along with a portion of the Upper Peninsula.