Mike Sherwin likes the famous yellow “Livestrong” bracelet so much, occasionally he wears two.

It might also be a gentle reminder to his colleagues at the Lance Armstrong Foundation that initially, he was the only person among them who thought the distinctive yellow wristband was a good idea.

The wristband has become a worldwide fashion accessory and is effectively the symbol of the foundation, which started in 1997 as Armstrong was recovering from cancer.

Foundation chief executive Doug Ulman, himself a cancer survivor, remembers well the meeting where sporting good giant Nike initially pitched the wristband idea.

Armstrong was among the majority who first screwed up their noses.    “There’s one board member in the foundation (Sherwin), one person, who was on the call,” Ulman said.

“Afterwards, he called me and said ‘you’re going to need more than six million’… smart man.

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FAIRMOUNT — Madison-Grant High School students are reaching out to help the family of Courtney Sizelove, who died in August, just before the start of her senior year.

Courtney, who was a member of the Class of 2009, died from a hereditary heart arrhythmia problem called Q-T syndrome.

Is it the high school’s student council who is working to raise money for the family.

“We are going to have a Valentine’s semi-formal for our students on Feb. 13,” said teacher Michelle Harrold, who is the student council sponsor. “The money that we raise will go to the Sizelove family to help pay for surgeries and Courtney’s headstone.”

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Those who knew and loved Lawson Phillips, a Bayou Meto Elementary School third-grader who died in 2007, honored his life yesterday by making a donation in his name for more than $10,000 to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of the Mid-South. The funds were raised by his parents, David and Lorey Phillips, and their family, the Bayou Meto Student Council and the Junior Twisters football team.

Lawson, 8, slipped into a coma a few days after he was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor that November, so he did not have an opportunity to make a wish. He died a month later.

The fund-raiser was conceived as a way to remember Lawson and to bring happiness to another child with a life-threatening medical condition, Lorey Phillips said.

The sale of rubber wristbands with Lawson’s name and football jersey number raised enough money to grant the wishes of two children.
When the word got around about the fund-raiser, many people wanted to contribute, Lorey Phillips recounted.

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Pink isn’t a color normally associated with the rough and tumble sport of ice hockey.

Black and blue is more like it.

Yet a feisty bunch of Macomb County peewee hockey players have adopted the color pink as a rallying point in support of a teammate’s mom who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. The 14-member Mt. Clemens Lightning squad proudly sport pink on their sticks, helmets and wristbands during games and practice this season.

It’s all for the benefit of Kristine Korpal, 44, the mother of the team’s goalie, 12-year-old Sean Korpal. In December, her world as a hockey and multisport mom turned topsy-turvy after she was diagnosed with breast cancer. (more…)