Kicks for a Cure scores record $152,000 for Liz’s Legacy

From left: Stephen Zubrod, First National Bank; Ken and Ann Bird, event chairs; and Dave and Korey Karnes, honorary chairs.

This year’s Kicks for a Cure event raised awareness for women’s cancer education and prevention and netted a record $152,000 for cancer research.

Creighton University hosted the fourth annual event, a benefit for the Liz’s Legacy cancer fund, last Friday and Saturday. Proceeds from the event, which features local high school and collegiate women’s soccer teams, benefit research at the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center and the Creighton University Hereditary Cancer Center.

“The UNMC Eppley Cancer Center is deeply grateful for the efforts again this year of everyone involved in Kicks For A Cure,” said Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UNMC Eppley Cancer Center. “The way the Omaha community supports the life-saving cancer research taking place at the Eppley Cancer Center through this annual event is really a testimony to the great people in this area.”

The weekend kicked off with a soccer skills clinic for 150 underprivileged boys and girls (ages 8-14) on Friday at Creighton’s Morrison Stadium. Creighton and UNO Women’s team members conducted the clinic.

Approximately 350 people attended Friday’s family-oriented banquet at
Creighton’s new Mike and Josie Harper Center. There, Creighton sophomore Annemarie Hengel received the Liz Karnes Memorial Scholarship Award from Creighton Women’s Soccer Head Coach Bruce Erickson. First National Bank then presented a check for $152,000, followed by an announcement that 2009 proceeds brought the four-year total of the event to $556,000.

“The way the Omaha community supports the life-saving cancer research taking place at the Eppley Cancer Center through this annual event is really a testimony to the great people in this area.” Ken Cowan, M.D., Ph.D.

Dave Karnes and Steve and Amy Lindsay started Kicks for a Cure with the inaugural event in 2006. Funds are raised through sponsorships, in-kind donations and the sale of banquet and game tickets to the general public. The research targets cancers affecting women, but is more global in its impact.

A $5,000 grant was awarded in 2008 to Creighton Women’s Soccer supporting the Liz Karnes Memorial Scholarship, honoring the late Liz Karnes who lost her battle with cancer in 2003.

Another $5,000 grant will be awarded from the proceeds of the 2009 event, with the intent of building an endowment at Creighton to insure the permanence of the annual scholarship.

For more information on the event or donations, visit www.kicksforacure.org.