Bid on a piece of sports memorabelia, support a good cause

Jim Valvano knew how to win.

The erstwhile college hoops coach did it 346 times over the course of a 19-year career.

The one adversary he couldn’t beat, however, was cancer.

Scant months after accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at ESPN’s first annual ESPY Awards banquet, Valvano finally succumbed to the disease in 1993.

Nonetheless, his underlying message – “Don’t ever give up!” – lives on as the eternal rallying cry for the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

And that’s something local ESPN radio host Cade Voisin hopes people will remember during ESPN’s third annual “Don’t Ever Give Up V Foundation Auction” on July 11.

“Jimmy Valvano was a very inspiring person,” he said. “I really hope we can do our part here.”

Voisin has an autographed Saints football, a basketball signed by Willis Reed and an autographed photo of Peja Stojakovic reserved for the bidding block. More items will be gathered in the upcoming days.

All proceeds will go to The V Foundation for Cancer Research.

“We wanted to encourage all of our affiliates to participate in this (auction),” said ESPN Radio Program Director Louise Cornetta. “Cade has been terrific. He contact me and really embraced the concept.”

In its 14-year existence, the V Foundation has raised more than $60 million to fund cancer research grants nationwide. For the fourth consecutive year, it has received a top four-star rating from Charity Navigator, America’s foremost evaluator of charities.

Voisin wants his first foray into the auctioneering world to be a success, but he’d also like to facilitate a forum of serious discussion.

“It (cancer) is something that has impacted a lot of people,” he said. “We’ll take callers and listen to stories about people who have battled cancer throughout the segment. I think people down here understand that a lot more needs to be done for cancer research.”

For more information or to make a donation, call (919) 380-9505 or 1-800-4JimmyV.