Vitale gala hauls in $24.8M
Sports stars help annual charity event set record in fight vs. pediatric cancer
SARASOTA — Josh Krulewitz thought he had a deal with Dick Vitale. Knowing how much the 84-year-old spoke at his annual galas, ESPN’s senior vice president of communications wanted Vitale to speak briefly on Friday at the press conference before the 19th Annual Dick Vitale Gala at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota.
Not likely. But Vitale surely had enough voice left at the end of the fourhour event, when the biggest donation in the history of the galas put Vitale’s goal of $12 million for this gala into orbit. Mark Pentecost, the CEO of It Works!, who has donated several million dollars at past galas, made the stunning pledge to match Vitale’s goal, if he was able to reach it.
Vitale did, raising a total of $12.8 million. When Pentecost came through with the matching $12 million, it brought the amount raised to $24.8 million, $13 million more than last year, and brought the total generated at all the galas to $93.1 million.
“I think this has truly become one of the great events in the country,” said Rick Barnes, men’s basketball coach at the University of Tennessee and one of the night’s honorees. “And you can’t come here — and you talk about four hours — and leave and not be touched.”
Friday’s lineup of honorees was one of the strongest in the 19-year history of
the gala. Besides Barnes, NFL Hall of Famer Jim Kelly, who has fought off cancer four times, was joined by MLB Hall of Famer Derek Jeter, and NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon.
The night was devoted to Vitale’s “All-Courageous Team’’ of cancer survivors, all of whom sat directly in front of Vitale. One was a newcomer, Katy Price, a 16-year-old from Virginia who was put in contact with Vitale through her mom. She has undergone two rounds of chemotherapy for sarcomas in her leg and lungs. Katy reports she is cancer free.
“It is a little overwhelming,” she said of being among a room of cancer survivors. “But it’s a great privilege.”
But perhaps the most poignant words were delivered by Kelly, the Hall of Fame quarterback, who lost four Super Bowls as quarterback of the Buffalo Bills. In 2013, he was diagnosed with cancer in his upper jaw. In 2018, after announcing the cancer had returned, Kelly had surgery to remove the cancer and reconstruct his upper jaw.
“When I was first diagnosed with cancer in 2013, I never thought in a million years I would be the one having to go through this,” he said. “I was one of those guys who went to four Super Bowls without winning, and all the injuries I’ve had in my career, and wondering why God would put me through this. And as I continued to grow and continue to go through things, I realized that God had a plan for me, and that was to be able to make a difference for others.
“My saying now is that I might have lost four Super Bowls, but I kicked cancer’s butt four times. Never give up. That phrase is my life has been there for a long time. Having a son born on my birthday, and seeing what he went through, and now he’s in heaven. I’ve been blessed because I have two daughters and a wife, and they never once walked into my hospital room with a frown on their faces.”
Sitting with the others, Gordon admitted to being nervous. “When you’re a rookie driver, they put a yellow stripe on your back bumper,” he said. “You got to know I got a yellow stripe down my back.” In 1999, the 52-year-old established the Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation to help support children with life-threatening and chronic illnesses. And in 2006, he opened the Jeff Gordon Children’s Hospital in Concord, N.C.
At the press conference, it was announced that Gordon’s Foundation had donated $1 million to the V Foundation for Cancer Research. “The work that the foundations do really complement each other,” Gordon said, “and I’ve admired Dick the V Foundation for the vision they have had.”
Jeter recalled Vitale coming to watch one of his first games as a professional baseball player. “And it was rookie ball, with like 10 people watching the game,” Jeter said. The two developed a friendship over the years, even if Vitale would sit near the Yankees dugout when they visited Tropicana Field to play the Tampa Bay Rays and root against the pinstripers.
“I have four young kids, 6, 5, 2 and 1,” he said. “I think cancer affects everyone, every family. I’ve had family members get it, and have lost good friends. I can’t say enough for what (this night) stands for.”
Vitale tried. “This is greatness you’re looking at,” he told onlookers at the press conference.
A few hours later, Vitale experienced greatness with his biggest gala haul ever.