“When you lose your hero, it’s a void that never gets filled,” Pete Zulia says.
If You Go
Huggins Homecoming Weekend
June 13 – 5K Run/Walk and post-run Brews and Bites at 50 West Brewing Company, 7605 Wooster Pike.
June 14 – Dinner at the Original Montgomery Inn featuring Coach Bob Huggins and other special guests, available via live-stream. Sponsorship packages are available to those who wish to join the on-site audience.
Registration for the 5K is $55 per person or $95 for the 5K and virtual dinner ticket.
Dinner sponsorships begin at $1,500 and virtual dinner tickets are $60.
Understanding how difficult it is to lose a parent to cancer, Zulia wanted to find a way to combat the disease in a personal and meaningful way.
In 2019, Zulia, co-founder of Oxford Physical Therapy, and his wife Linda, teamed with Frank DeJulius, owner of Fleet Feet-Cincinnati, to create an event to benefit the Norma Mae Huggins Cancer Endowment at West Virginia University, created by WVU (and former University of Cincinnati) basketball coach Bob Huggins to honor his mother. Through their efforts, they raised more than $150,000 at through their first effort. They intended to build on that success for the following year. After the COVID-19 pandemic canceled plans for a larger event in 2020, the Huggins Homecoming Weekend is on track for June 13 and 14.
Zulia and Huggins share a deep connection that includes Cincinnati, West Virginia University (WVU), and losing a parent to cancer.
The Huggins Homecoming Weekend in Cincinnati will raise money for the Norma Mae Huggins Cancer Endowment, established by Coach Huggins in his mother’s name to provide cancer care and research though a number of events over that weekend.
“Partnering with Bob and the city of Cincinnati is immeasurable,” Zulia said. “It is huge. Bob’s willingness to work with us and sharing his mom’s name shows his trust and support for us.”
The Norma Mae Huggins Cancer Endowment has helped families, patients, and research in West Virginia since 2003. It has allowed the WVU Cancer Institute to conduct clinical trials and provide patient care to ensure they have an experience as comfortable as possible.
“Clinical trials lie at the heart of medical advancement and result in learning new ways to prevent, detect or treat disease,” says Stephanie McCandless, WVU foundation director of annual giving. “Treatments might be new drugs or new drug combinations, new surgical procedures or devices, or new ways of using existing treatments.”
The endowment allows WVU to offer patients and families from West Virginia and surrounding areas the same treatment options found in larger cancer centers across the country. These donations directly help patients receive the best care, close to home.
“The level at which Coach is both recognized and regarded, not just within the region but also nationwide, brings incredibly meaningful fundraising opportunities to the Institute, as well as an immeasurable amount of awareness,” says McCandless.
Since 2003, nearly $5 million has been raised for the Norma Mae Huggins Endowment.
Ultimately, Huggins’ and Zulia’s goal is “cancer research and care for everyone, everywhere.”
“This is a way for us, and me personally, to carry on (my father’s) legacy,” says Zulia, “And connect to something that is bigger than one person and can save lives.”
–Jacob Mantle