NYC event to raise money for late ESPN anchor Stuart Scott's cancer research fund

Lauren Glassberg Image
Thursday, November 30, 2023
NYC event to raise money for Stuart Scott's cancer research fund
Lauren Glassberg has the latest on NYC event.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- In celebration of the late ESPN anchor Stuart Scott, an event will take place next week in New York City to help fight racial disparities in cancer outcomes.

Stuart Scott was a trailblazer in the world of sports broadcasting. His descriptive style made him an ESPN standout.

Scott died 8 years ago after battling cancer, but his legacy of trail blazing continues with the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund.

"It funds researchers who are focusing on areas of healthcare and cancer research in which there are discrepancies along racial lines," Scott's daughter Sydni Scott said. "It also funds minority researchers themselves to pursue the research projects they're interested in."

His daughters Sydni and Taelor say the work those researchers are doing is saving lives.

With ESPN's help, the fund, in partnership with the V Foundation, has awarded nearly $16 million in grants.

"Since its inception in 2015, the 54 researchers who have been funded by my dad's program have collectively generated over 7,500 publications, 1,200 patents and are connected to 125 clinical trials," Taelor Scott said.

It's work the Scott sisters say their father would have been incredibly proud of.

"I think the 'booyah' really encapsulates how my dad would feel about it," Sydni Scott said.

On Monday, the event, 'Boo-Yah: A Celebration of Stuart Scott, will be held in New York City to raise money for their dad's fund.

"It's a day that's so magical it reminds us that this is why we do it," Taelor Scott said. "We want people to have more days, more days, more time, more opportunities to be together, more chances to build together."

That ties in with the mission of the V Foundation which was started 30 years ago by ESPN and legendary basketball coach Jim Valvano.

The goal, then and now, is for victory over cancer.