Author: Tammy Lane • First Posted: Friday, September 30, 2011

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Brandy Allison brought 3-year-old daughter Ashleigh to Dunbar's Cancer Classic, which this year benefits The Lexington Dream Factory and the Markey Cancer Center at UK.

Three-year-old Ashleigh held tightly to her pink T-shirt and a volleyball signed by the team at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School. A few steps away, teenagers in matching jerseys sat courtside during the Cancer Classic – knowing they were playing for Ashleigh that night.

“It’s like the one game that’s so different than any game you play because it’s for a bigger cause,” said senior Ann-Marie Williamson. “It makes it so worth it when you can see who this is going to benefit.”

Ashleigh has a rare form of cancer called myoepithial carcinoma, according to her mother, Brandy Allison. She is Kentucky’s first documented case and only the 60^th in the United States. Now in remission, Ashleigh is in many ways a typical little girl.

“She loves the Mickey and Minnie Mouse life-size stuffed animals in the UK Children’s Hospital,” said Allison, whose family plans to visit Disney World in the spring.

That’s where The Lexington Dream Factory comes in. This nonprofit organization grants wishes to children diagnosed with critical or chronic illnesses. The girls at Dunbar picked the Dream Factory and the Markey Cancer Center at UK to receive the proceeds from the annual Cancer Classic, which began about eight years ago.

Allison appreciated the teens’ efforts to raise awareness.

“It really puts it all in perspective,” she said. “Until you meet someone who’s been through it … it kind of puts it all together for them.”

Dunbar developed the fundraiser after two players’ parents were diagnosed with cancer, head coach Jenni Morgan recalled. Last year the burgeoning schoolwide effort raised about $8,000 through the volleyball gate, raffle, silent auction, bake sales, T-shirt sales and related donations.

“They take a lot of ownership and are proud of it. It’s something that’s very meaningful to them,” Morgan said of her players. “It sets the tone that there’s so much more outside of life than a game.”

Senior Shannon Bruggemann agreed the event is a highlight of their season.

“It’s something we all look forward to and love planning. We try to make it bigger and better every year because it’s something that affects a lot of us personally,” she said. “We have tons and tons of prizes donated from all sorts of businesses around the community. Also, each class picks a theme and puts together a basket for the silent auction. It becomes a competition to see who can raise the most.”

Shannon’s mother works with a Dream Factory board member at Clays Mill Elementary, which is how the team came to select this year’s focus. 

“We all thought it was a really neat charity and something we wanted to help out,” Shannon said, adding, “Seeing it’s such a young child, it makes it a lot more emotional, too."