FORT LAUDERDALE – The prowl continues.
Florida Panthers Director of Hockey Operations and General Manager Bill Zito and his wife, Julie, a breast cancer survivor, partnered with the American Cancer Society (ACS) to create Panthers on the Prowl in March, a fundraising campaign to support cancer research.
Inspired by Chicago’s famous Cows on the Prowl, donors to Panthers on the Prowl will receive a blank, life-sized Panther sculpture that they can design in any way they wish.
“We wanted to do something different,” Julie said at the launch of the initiative. “People want to be more involved in something unique that other people can see.”
The idea has come to fruition and the goal of raising $1 million is right around the corner.
More than 120 leopard sculptures have been sold so far.
“It’s exciting,” Zito said of the Panthers on the Prowl’s success. “It’s humbling, it’s moving. It’s one of those rare endeavors in life that makes you laugh, it makes you cry, it makes you smile, it makes you wince, and it almost brings out every human emotion because of the magnitude of the importance of what we’re fighting for. It’s also the love within the community that it inspires and brings out, so many wonderful traits in all the people it supports.”
From individuals to businesses, athletes to celebrities, people from all walks of life take part in this prowl to show off their leopards and take part in the fight against cancer.
