Katie Oppo Research Fund hosted a Night at the Links event with pickleball, golf and tennis-related auction items to raise money for ovarian cancer research and memorialize Katie Oppo on Saturday, Sept. 27. Participants bid on golf outings, sports tickets and private lessons at the Harbor Links Golf Course for the organization’s first sports-themed event.
“A healthy pursuit of sports is really a great advertisement for health,” said Liz Oppo, director of Katie Oppo Research Fund and Katie Oppo’s mother.
The event exceeded the organization’s $30,000 goal.
In the past, the fund has curated several women’s health forums and annual 5K runs with the goal of memorializing Katie Oppo and teaching young women the importance of being active in their pubescent years, Liz Oppo said.
“We are very invested in getting information out to young women to understand that knowledge is power, and that understanding how to protect their reproductive system is exceedingly important for their health later on,” Liz Oppo said.
Katie Oppo, a Manhasset High School graduate of 2009, was a freshman at Johns Hopkins University pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor when she was diagnosed with Stage IV small cell carcinoma of the ovary (SCCO), a rare form of ovarian cancer.
Katie Oppo was determined to learn everything she could about the disease during treatment, Liz Oppo said.
“Katie was the type of person who led the whole group of us, myself included, with an attitude of hope and determination for figuring out why this disease was targeting young women,” Liz Oppo said. “She was not someone who was sitting around frightened or incapable of action. She was someone who led the team.”
Oppo died April 11, 2011, after battling the disease for eight months.
After Katie’s passing, her community came together to host the first 5k, Liz Oppo said. “Team Katie was formed on multiple levels because of who she was,” she said. “I was in shock at her loss, and so was the team, but we quickly realized that we had to continue the fight for her because we knew that’s what she wanted us to do.”
Though the fund has organized various events over the years, the run remains the most consistent, happening every June on a Sunday.
“We’ve never missed a run,” Liz Oppo said. “We even did a virtual run during COVID, but we have never missed a run.”
This June will mark Katie Oppo Research Fund’s 15th anniversary run.
