On November 11th, 2016 tragedy struck the Twombly family. Brothers Jack and Will, along with their loving father John lost their beloved mother and wife, as she lost her courageous battle with pancreatic cancer.
Her son, Goochland High School (GHS) Senior Jack Twombly has continued to fight the war against cancer. Twelve weeks later, to the day, Twombly will be taking action to raise awareness and money for pancreatic cancer research.
Every senior at GHS must complete a senior project to walk across the stage at graduation. Projects come in all various shapes and sizes. Twombly’s project has taken the form of a Cancer Awareness week, capped off by Goochland’s second annual “Ballin for a Cure” benefit basketball game on Friday, February 3rd at 7:00pm at Goochland High School.
Twombly says this about how his mother inspired him to action:
“After my Mom passed away from pancreatic cancer in November, we decided upon the idea of getting people to realize how big of an issue cancer is, and wanted to be a part of a big movement. She was a huge inspiration to everyone she knew, and even to some she didn’t, we wanted to honor her with this.”
Indeed, Twombly has made his mother proud. He, along with fellow project organizer A.J. Austin, has organized a color-coded Cancer Awareness week at GHS the week of January 30th through February 3rd, dedicating each day to raising awareness for a different kind of cancer. In just three months since his mother’s passing, Twombly has raised over $800 to fund the purchase of T-Shirts that will be sold to commemorate the event’s purpose of raising awareness and money.
Twombly’s actions off the court are complimented by his eye-popping numbers on the court. He has led the Bulldogs to a 12-5 record, while averaging 15.4 points per game, 11.4 rebounds per game, and 1.5 blocks per game.
This has been a true community effort, with money coming from State Farm Insurance of Goochland, Goochland Pharmacy, Subway of Goochland, Hickory Notch Grill, and Parrish Ford, as well as private donors. GHS is donating half of the ticket sales for the night’s game to the cause, as well. Virginia Commonwealth Basketball head coach, Will Wade, donated a signed ball to be raffled off. Richmond resident and former Vice President for Basketball Operations of the Los Angeles Clippers, Kevin Eastman, arranged to have a Chris Paul signed jersey donated, also to raffle off. Many, many people have contributed to this event, which is just one reason why it is so special.
All proceeds from ticket, raffle, and T-shirt sales will be donated to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. That organization’s mission statement is, “a nationwide network of people dedicated to working together to advance research, support patients, and create hope for those affected by pancreatic cancer.”[1]
Mark your calendar: Friday, February 3rd at 7:00pm in the GHS gymnasium. A community effort, a family, a young man, fighting the war against cancer may be the most hopeful thing of all.
Contact: AJ Nash (Teacher sponsor of the project) Goochland High School anash@glnd.k12.va.us 3250 River Road West Goochland, VA 23063 Phone: 804-241-4574 (cell) 804-556-5322 ext. 4825(work)