Swish Upon a Cure event raises $22,030 for fight against cancer

Almost 1,300 UW-Madison students came to the Kohl Center on Monday afternoon to help Wisconsin men’s basketball coach Greg Gard and his wife, Michelle, raise money in the fight against cancer.

And they helped in a huge way.

After the buckets stopped dropping in the seventh-annual Swish Upon a Cure, students helped bump up the Gard’s total donation this year to a whopping $22,030.

For every student from the university that walked into the Kohl Center, the Gards donated $1 to Garding Against Cancer. For every free throw a student made, $5 would be donated, with $500 being added to the pot for every half-court shot drained.

According to UW, 37 half-court shots were successfully attempted.

Now going on seven years running for the event, a total of $1,159,136 has been raised.

“I love this event because it gives Michelle and I, as well as our team, a chance to interact with our great student body and all for a good cause,” Gard said in a released statement. “Sadly, cancer affects all of us and anything positive we can do for researchers and patient care here in the state of Wisconsin helps. I’m proud and excited at how many UW students showed up and hopefully had a good time along the way.”