Over $2 million raised on Buckeye Cruise for Cancer – Ohio State Buckeyes
2/27/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 27, 2015
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The eighth annual Buckeye Cruise for Cancer – extended nearly 36 hours because of a strange fog in the Gulf of Mexico that halted all traffic in and out of the Port of Tampa – was a clear success for cancer research as the six-day cruise raised more than $2 million for the Urban & Shelley Meyer Fund for Cancer Research and The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. The Buckeye “cruises” have now raised more than $8.5 million for cancer research.
Many of the approximately 2,300 fans and celebrity guests aboard Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Sea cheered loudly when told they would be staying on board the ship for another night because of the fog, according to cruise director Lisa Cisco.
“The fans erupted in a loud cheer and the band started playing,” Cisco said. “Then Anthony Schlegel and his wife, Stefanie, rallied the troops for a karaoke night and within 15 minutes we had a play list of over 10 songs that former Buckeye greats would be singing. It brought down the house.”
The last night on the cruise to and from Cozumel, Mexico was nothing but fun, according to Cisco, as the trip had been so successful raising funds for cancer research. Leading the fund raising were Ohio State coach Urban Meyer and his wife Shelley, Dr. Michael A. Galigiuri, CEO of The James, ESPN lead college football announcer Kirk Herbstreit and more than two dozen former Buckeyes, including first-time cruisers Ryan Shazier and Jack Mewhort.
“I am just so thankful to Lisa and her team of volunteers for all the hard work they put in to make this cruise so successful,” Urban Meyer said, “and to Chris Quinn and his staff at Travel Partners. And we truly have the best fans in the land for not only selling out this ship every year but for then being so generous in their support for such an important cause.
“And I have to thank, as always, the many former Buckeyes and the great medical teams from the James who make the effort and take the time to support such a worthy cause.”
Dates for the 2016 Buckeye Cruise for Cancer are expected to be announced in late March.
