The Ridgefield Raptors evened the Columbia River Cup series with the Cowlitz Black Bears in a 9-4 win on Thursday, July 17, in a night highlighted in pink at the Ridgefield Outdoor Recreation Complex.
The July 17 home game for the Raptors wasn’t so much about the play on the field, but to spread awareness of the efforts the Pink Lemonade Project performs to assist those affected by breast cancer locally. The Raptors players wore a special jersey with pink accents, lettering, and numbers, and fans had the opportunity to participate in a jersey auction to support Pink Lemonade’s efforts.
The Pink Lemonade Project was founded in 2010 by a local physician husband-and-wife duo, Drs. Allen and Cassie Gabriel. Ridgefield’s collegiate wood bat summer league team also hosted employees of Waste Connections, which goes hand-in-hand with the Pink Lemonade Project. The entire year has been filled with excitement for those working with the Pink Lemonade Project, as 2025 marks the 15th year in service. A major highlight of the year is always the jersey auction night, said Ann Berryman, chief strategy officer for the Pink Lemonade Project.
“When it comes to events like this, it’s really exciting,” she said. “Baseball is an American pastime. It’s a beautiful day, summertime, and really, everybody here probably has someone that they know or they themselves have directly been impacted by breast cancer.”
Berryman spoke about the fundraising event and the fact it highlights the critical services and programs for Oregon and Southwest Washington.
“All of the funding goes to support our programs,” Berryman said. “So really around early detection, helping people get screened, helping people while they’re in treatment. They may need support with rent or utilities, gas, food, lodging and we want to make sure we can remove any barrier for them to complete treatment. Then really, it affords us the opportunity to host retreats, support groups, mentors for people at any stage of their journey — really that community connection point — these dollars really help us make sure these programs are available to anybody who needs them.”
Berryman highlighted that screening rates have sharply declined, and a higher number of young women are being diagnosed with more aggressive forms of breast cancer.
Beyond the jersey auction and other fundraising events, a year-round opportunity for Waste Connections customers is to donate $100 for the Pink Cart Program, which directly supports the Pink Lemonade Project, Berryman said. The $100 donation trades in the regular recycling bin for a pink recycling bin. The funds raised from the pink cart program directly go towards supporting individuals in treatment, those who are symptomatic, and even support on the other end of treatment during the after-effects of chemotherapy, Berryman explained.
“100-percent of the proceeds go to us from the pink cart, so that $100 really can help people with gas, or keeps the lights on or buys groceries,” she said. “The most incredible thing with this being the 15th anniversary is it’s raised almost $400,000 just in pink cart sales. So Waste Connections has been very generous to make sure this continues for the community.”
The Pink Lemonade Project serves southwest Washington and Oregon, with upcoming events found on its website, pinklemon adeproject.org/events, along with more information.
