This past weekend, on Saturday, April 11, the 17th annual “Knock Out Cancer” fundraiser occurred in Hingham. This fundraiser was started to raise money to support people with breast cancer, along with raising awareness on the subject; the money earned goes towards research and treatment funding for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute through the Jimmy Fund. What sparked the want to start and continue the fundraiser was the struggle and perseverance of a Hingham resident named Janice Mannion with breast cancer; she died in March of 2016.
This year, the event was held in the McKelvey Gym on the Derby Academy campus instead of the South Shore Sports Center due to a fire in June of last year. Every participant pays a donation to enter and the event consists of multiple activities. First, everyone was split into elementary schoolers, middle schoolers and high schoolers. Each group played a basketball game where they took shots like lay-ups and three point shots, with each one counting for a different number of points. Everyone had a minute to take as many shots and rack up as many points as possible. Afterwards, they each play a game of knockout. The winners of each game for their group got either a medal or a giftcard. Following, there is a larger adult division that plays a game of basketball.
As of last year, the event raised upwards of $250,000, most of which was donated to the Jimmy Fund. Each year the event has sponsors and donators; The Worthwhile Life Foundation and South Shore Bank are some of the sponsors, and last year a portion of the proceeds from the Worthwhile Life Foundation’s bowlathon were donated to the cause.
Both this and the previous year, Hingham High School and Middle School’s choral group, Encore, was invited to sing before the children and adult groups. Last year they only sang “The Star-Spangled Banner”, but “God Bless America” was added to the repertoire in 2026. Once again, the group was also welcome to participate in the basketball events and is hoping to be invited back next year.
Callie Granoff, a junior within Encore, attended the event and shared her thoughts on the impact of the fundraiser. She said, “I think it’s important so people who have the horrible thing known as cancer can know that they are not fighting it alone and they have people around them who love and are supporting them every step of the way.” That is exactly what the charity is trying to do; if many people donate an amount of money to the cause, even if it is small, their contributions are important because it combined with the donations of others and it eventually made up the sum of $250,000. The fundraiser is hoping to reach their goal of around $300,000, so any donation counts.
Ben Hansmire, a sophomore who also sang with Encore at the fundraiser stated, “I thought that the fundraiser was for a great cause that would help a lot of people and it seemed to have a fairly large and positive community around it although there were few people in the younger groups other than the chorus.” Watching and listening to the organizers of the event, it was evident that they had a passion for helping the community struggling with breast cancer and treatment. While someone was speaking, they actually pointed out that a man there has been attending the event since he was in middle school; this dedication is seemingly common between many older participants. Even if it is just sitting and watching or making a donation, it is a powerful and impactful event, where everyone who is playing makes it a non-competitive and supportive environment.
