“We cheer each other on” Sen. Shelley Moore Capito laces up for annual softball fundraiser

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Lawmakers are swapping bills for bats Wednesday at the annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game.

The tradition started IN 2009 with a diagnosis.

“My dear friend, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, survived breast cancer, and she was a young survivor,” said founding member Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. “She was somebody who got breast cancer in her forties, and that’s rare. And so she asked if I would play a softball game every year to raise money to raise awareness for young women with breast cancer.”

The lawmakers squared off against print, television and digital reporters from Capitol Hill. It’s a cause for which Senator Shelley Moore Capito is happy to go to bat.

“We have a raise over a half million dollars,” said Sen. Capito “This is for young people who have been diagnosed with breast cancer”

She says along with raising money - it’s a good example of what can happen when people work together.

“Republican and Democrat. Women play together. We have for years. We’re very good friends. A lot of us, we get to meet new people that way as well. And now we’re united in our front. We cheer each other on. It’s fun to get to know people that way.”

According to the Cleveland Clinic - those aged 40 and below make up about 5 percent of all breast cancer cases.

All the proceeds of this game will be going to the Young Survivor Coalition. The game has already raised a half a million dollars.

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