On Saturday Dec. 15, Thousand Oaks high school girls basketball came together with Oak Park basketball to help prepare to raise money for The Ribbons of Life Foundation.
From 12 pm- 3 pm, both programs were able to get to know each other better while they decorated posters and ribbons to show their support to those with breast cancer.
“It was a good time, it’s cool we can all get together and make a difference,”  Sam Sobel said.
The inspiration for the event was brought forth by TOHS head coach, Jenna Bandy, who has a personal connection to breast cancer.
“Breast cancer has always been close to me. I have a close family friend who suffered from breast cancer, who’s a survivor,” Bandy said. “It just means a lot to me and it’s for a good cause.”
Everyone made an individual ribbon, while others were able to collaborate and decorated posters. Both programs were able to interact and meet new people.
“It was an awesome day to come together with Oak Park and do collaborative breast cancer awareness, make posters, and ribbons.” Bandy said.
All of this was in efforts to prepare for their Pink and White game on Monday, Dec. 17, where the Oak Park and Thousand Oaks basketball programs will donate all the proceeds to The Ribbons of Life Foundation.
“When I was back in high school, my varsity team came up with the idea of doing a breast cancer game with Newbury Park,” Bandy said. “That was against my friend Doris Park. She is now at OPHS and I’m back at TOHS, so we wanted to keep the awareness going and make it a traditional thing.”
The games will take place at Oak Park High School, at 4, 5:30, and 7 pm. Both programs are looking forward to raising money and donating to a good cause.
“I’m not only looking forward to seeing everyone come together for a good time, but also just a good competitive game,” Bandy said. “Hopefully we have a lot of people donating and the decorations we made will be all around the gym. I’m excited to see all that.”
The game taking place on Monday night will not only be an opportunity to raise money for a good cause, but also give the varsity girls basketball team the chance for a rematch after their loss to Oak Park in their last tournament.