Lightning owner Jeff Vinik makes $1 million-plus donation to V Foundation
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SARASOTA - His hockey team is in the business of handing out assists.
This time, however, it was Jeff Vinik who gave a much-needed assist to Dick Vitale.
Along with his wife, Penny, the owner of the Tampa Bay Lightning did his part in helping the 82-year-old Lakewood Ranch resident and ESPN college basketball analyst reach his financial goal for this year's 18th Annual Dick Vitale Gala with a donation of more than $1 million to the V Foundation for Cancer Research. The total includes a $100,000 sponsorship of the Gala. Vinik and his wife now have donated nearly $5 million to the V Foundation.
"Penny and I are committed to the world-class research the V Foundation supports," said Vinik, who owns a home on St. Armands Key. "And we continue to be inspired by our good friend Dick Vitale's tireless dedication to changing, and saving, the lives of kids."
Through the Dick Vitale Fund for Pediatric Cancer, the V Foundation has awarded $66.7 million in research grants. After accidents, cancer is the second-leading cause of death in children ages 1 to 14. But from the mid-1970s to 2017, the survival rate in children has increased from 58% to 84.7%. For adolescents age 15 to 19, the rate has increased from 68% to 85.8% over that same period.
"I'm amazed at the continued support Jeff and Penny Vinik are providing to help kids battling cancer and the great research the V Foundation is funding," Vitale said. "We need new therapies and new treatments that are more precise and have fewer side effects, because these kids deserve it. And thanks to the generous donors like Jeff and Penny, we will get there."
At this year's 18th Annual Dick Vitale Gala, scheduled for May 5 at The Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, the honorees will be Buster Posey, three-time World Series champion with the San Francisco Giants and a V Foundation board member; NBA Hall of Famer David Robinson; and ESPN tennis analysts John and Patrick McEnroe. In addition, North Carolina State University Hall of Fame basketball player and V Foundation board member Dereck Whittenburg will receive the John Saunders Courage Award, and Tennessee men's head basketball coach Rick Barnes will receive the Dick Vitale Spirit Award.
To learn more about the Dick Vitale Gala, visit https://www.v.org/event/dick-vitale-gala/. To donate to the V Foundation for Cancer research, visit dickvitale.com.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Lightning owner Jeff Vinik makes $1 million donation to V Foundation
