Tennessee residents set socks record to raise money for cancer fellowship

By Kristen Stephenson

Published 30 May 2018

The record for the Largest gathering of people wearing mismatched socks has been achieved, an admirable mass participation event organized by Tailgating Against Cancer.

A total of 933 participants came out to Coulter Grove Intermediate School, Maryville, Tennessee, USA to show their support for the attempt.

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Calling the event 'Sock It Out of the Park', it was an honorary tribute to local man Stephen York Coleman, who sadly lost a three year battle with brain cancer in 2011.

Anderson Lumber organized an event for the record books. 933 people broke the Guinness World Record for The Most People Wearing Mismatched Socks. Proceeds went to the Stephen Y. Coleman Fellowship of Oncology in honor of Owner Steve Coleman's son who passed away from brain cancer pic.twitter.com/DwpR6SrM64
— Do it Best Corp. (@doitbestcorp) May 2, 2018

As Stephen often ran the bases on the fields in town during his younger years, relatives and friends thought this would be the perfect way to celebrate his legacy.

Proceeds from the attempt were directed towards creating a Medical Oncology Fellowship at the University of Tennessee Cancer Institute, with the hopes of helping others in Stephen’s position.

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Partners Tailgating Against Cancer and University of Tennessee Hospital Cancer Center had managed to raise $200,000 prior to setting the record, and hoped that donations from this event would help them reach their goal of $500,000.

“As brothers, we shared a lot, including a love of baseball. Each time I step onto the diamond I’m reminded of my brother, and to host Sock It Out Of The Park where we both played ball is truly something special. This event is a way to honor Stephen’s legacy, and also support the work in cancer at The University of Tennessee Medical Center and the UT Graduate School of Medicine.” - Landon Coleman, Stephen’s brother.

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