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Press Releases: 2008
 

USC Women's Basketball Coach & Olympian Dawn Staley Host Breakfast Celebrating Grandparents Raising


December 4, 2008
Columbia, SC

University of South Carolina (USC) Women's Basketball coach, Dawn Staley, in partnership with Select Health of South Carolina, will host a celebratory breakfast for 60 grandparents, who take on the selfless task of raising their grandchildren, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, December 10 at the Brookland Conference and Banquet Center in Columbia. The grandparents were nominated by AARP, churches, as well as through a local radio station campaign. The selection criterion was that the grandparents be solely responsible for the day-to-day caretaking of their grandchildren. The grandparents are coming from around the state and will represent numerous counties.

The actual breakfast will be served by local and state dignitaries. Confirmed guests to date include JT McLawhorn (Executive Director of Columbia Urban League), Judy Gaston (WIS News Anchor), Clente Flemming (President, South Carolina Community Bank), Bernice Scott (Richland County Council) and representatives from the USC athletic department. In addition to the dignitaries, there will be entertainment, testimonies from grandchildren and special gifts given throughout the morning.

Dawn Staley was hired to lead the USC women's basketball program on May 7, 2008. Prior to her hire, she led her native Philadelphia's Temple University's Lady Owls to an impressive 178-80 overall record in just eight short years. In her professional basketball career she made five appearances at the WNBA All Star game and was named to the WNBA's All Decade Team. Upon retirement, the WNBA named their community award The Dawn Staley Community Award in her honor. Staley owns three Olympic gold medals and is considered one of the most decorated female basketball players in the history of the sport. In addition to her basketball career, she heads the Dawn Staley Foundation, which focuses on enriching the lives of youth.

Select Health is one of the state's largest health insurers and manages the delivery of quality and accessible healthcare to more than 140,000 members in all 46 South Carolina counties. Select Health aims to provide quality healthcare to low-income families in South Carolina and works to help strengthen and empower South Carolina communities.