The girls volleyball raised $296 on Volley for a Cure night, according to Michael Neuner, an assistant coach of the girls varsity volleyball team for the Pink Ribbon Good Foundation, and Melinda Rudd, the director of database and accounting at Pink Ribbon Good, the nonprofit the volleyball team worked with for the fundraiser.
“We received two gifts, one on 10/6/25 for $131 and one on 10/20/25 for $165,” Rudd said.
Adrian Keuhn, the assistant coach of the girls varsity volleyball team, has worked with volunteers and Pink Ribbon Good to host the fundraiser on Oct. 3 this year, and worked with the Siteman cancer center the previous nine years.
“I hope that if I [were] ever in this situation, or my wife or my family [were] in a situation where we needed money to help our family through donations, people would also step up,” Kuehn said. “That has really shaped me to put my time and effort into it,”
Despite unpredictable turnouts each year, Kuehn emphasized the impact of community support emotionally and materially.
“My personal connection to Volley for a Cure is my grandpa, who developed cancer but fought through it. I work for him because I don’t want others to suffer,” Josephine Macmillan, a freshman member of the Volleyball C-team, said.
The funds raised for Pink Ribbon Good remain local, going to members of the Clayton community with breast cancer, as well as survivors of breast cancer.
“[They] help us provide free healthy meals, rides to treatment, housecleaning essentials and peer support so no one is alone in the fight,” Olivia McAulay, the director of community engagement for Pink Ribbon Good, said. “Pink Ribbon Good is truly grateful for the support of Clayton High School’s Volley for a Cure event. Fundraisers like yours [Clayton High School]directly advance our mission to provide real support for those battling breast and gynecological cancer,”
But fundraising is not done solely by the coaches and representatives of Pink Ribbon Good; the volleyball players are also active participants in generating donations.
“We play serving games during the halves. After each set, the [spectators] play a serving game to try to get free t-shirts. We also have a raffle-type thing to get a free T-shirt that usually raises the most money,” Macmillan said. “[There is] team spirit that brings everyone together,”
Along with students and teachers, volunteers also dedicate time and energy to the fundraiser. Debbie Dornfeld, the athletic secretary, set up stands at the fundraising games and created separate games to raise money, such as guessing the number of pink marbles in a jar.
“This year has been hard. I had two surgeries in [the] spring for thyroid cancer. Friends, especially my coworkers, have been so gracious, kind, and supportive. Volley for a Cure is one way I can support others going through cancer treatment, and seeing the volleyball team support such a great cause is incredibly encouraging for me to experience,” Dornfeld said.
Pink Ribbon Good is grounded in the belief that when a community comes together, supporting those who need it becomes much easier.
“Events like Volley for a Cure not only provide the resources needed to deliver our services, but also inspire hope. They demonstrate to our clients that students, schools and neighbors they may never meet are standing firmly beside them on their cancer journeys,” McAulay said.
