10 Thursday, September 5, 2024 BATTLE CREEK SHOPPER NEWS http://www.thebattlecreekshopper.comLEUKEMIA
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269-223-“This picture I attached is the one the girls sent to me while I was in Ann Arbor to begin my treatment,” said Pennfield
freshman volleyball coach, Hannah Belote, who also coaches girls from around the area at the Midwest Select
Volleyball Club. (Photo provided)Harper Creek will be uniting in their
effort to help Pennfield freshman
volleyball coach Hannah Belote and
her young family.
The Block Out Cancer event begins
at 5 p.m. with the freshman and
junior varsity matches, followed at
6:30 p.m. by the varsity matchup
with most players dressed in orange,
the color representing leukemia.
“This is truly a team effort,” said
event committee member Leslie
Wiley, whose daughter, Jenna, plays
on the junior varsity squad.
In fact, Jenna will sing the National
Anthem that night to kick off the
evening.
The event will involve a 50/
raffle, a silent auction and shirts for
sale.
There will also be a raffle of a Yeti
cooler filled with $1,300 worth of
goodies and there will be bakeries on
site, said Wiley.
“People can bid on the silent auc-
tion during the night and right afterthe varsity game,” said Wiley, “we’ll
announce the winner of the auction
and do the 50/50 raffle and Yeti
raffle.”
All proceeds will go to help the
Belote family cover expenses once
she gets home from having a bone
marrow transplant at University of
Michigan Hospital.
“I think it’s incredible that the
community is coming together for a
local volleyball coach,” said Belote
from her hospital room via phone
last week, “especially me. I’ve
coached girls from both schools.
I’m a freshman coach at Pennfield
but in the winter, I coach club so
I get the opportunity to coach the
Harper girls, as well and we created
like a good bond so I’m excited that
they’re coming together. People say
Pennfield and Harper are rivals but
it’s for a good cause.”
Belote explained that she was
unexpectedly diagnosed with leuke-
mia on May 17.
“I was called about critical lab
work and told I needed to go into the
ER,” she said. “Bronson told me it
was a blood cancer that they weren’t
equipped to deal with and sent me to
Ann Arbor where I would stay for 21
days for the induction chemo.”
Belote said she was supposed to
coach a tournament in Grand Rapids
for her club team on the May 18 so
another coach stepped in.
“The coaches wore orange (the
color of the leukemia ribbon) and
the girls made signs for me,” shesaid. “My team was made up of three
Pennfield girls, three Harper girls,
three Marshall girls, a St.Phil girl
and a Lakeview girl. Coaching club
has brought a lot of families into my
life from different schools, and cre-
ated a huge community and I appre-
ciate all of the support I am getting.”
As of Aug. 9, she is now cancer
free but will still receive a bone mar-
row transplant.
“I’m in the hospital for another
3-4 weeks to receive a bone mar-
row transplant that was graciously
donated all the way from Poland,”
she said.
Other benefits have included a ben-
efit poker ride as well as a golf out-
ing set for Sept. 21.
“My husband has to be off for
two to three months when I come
home to be my 24/7 care provider,”
said Hannah. “So, it’s a big relief.
Hopefully, we’ll be able to hire a
home health aid so he can go back to
work.”
She explained that “the support,
donations, prayers, and kindness
from our community has been
impeccable. I’m married with two
little boys that are 5 and 3 and the
volleyball community has jumped
right in on helping take care of my
boys and I. Grateful is just the word
that I feel overall. I love coaching,
I love volleyball, and I love seeing
how our city can come together to
support one of their own.”