Moffitt Cancer Center Teams Up with Port Tampa Bay and the Tampa Bay Lightning to Bring Cancer Community Outreach to Channelside

TAMPA, Fla. — Three of Tampa’s most regarded organizations will join together to establish a location dedicated to cancer screening awareness and education.

The space has been generously provided by Port Tampa Bay to establish a new Moffitt Community Engagement Center located in the busy Water Street district across from The Florida Aquarium.

The Lightning Foundation and the Lightning Community Heroes program have donated $50,000 to support the center, which will focus on cancer prevention and early detection, as well as provide appointment services for cancer screenings. This center is expected to see thousands of visitors in the Tampa Bay area.

The gift, presented to Moffitt Cancer Center last night during Hockey Fights Cancer, was accepted by breast cancer survivor Allison Futch. The mother of four credits the early detection of her cancer to genetic testing and regular screenings — the very topics that will be addressed by the new center.

“We see a tremendous opportunity to reach a large number of people with education on early detection and prevention of cancer. This is a priority for us in order to decrease the number of cancer deaths,” said Dr. Patrick Hwu, president and CEO of Moffitt. “We are so grateful to Port Tampa Bay and the Tampa Bay Lightning for making this effort a reality.”

“Port Tampa Bay is honored to join Moffitt Cancer Center, a world-class hospital, to establish the Community Engagement Center at one of our cruise terminals. We hope this resource will educate our community with lifesaving information. We are so grateful for the support of the Lightning Foundation to make our combined vision a reality,” said Paul Anderson, president and CEO of Port Tampa Bay.

About Moffitt Cancer Center
Moffitt is dedicated to one lifesaving mission: to contribute to the prevention and cure of cancer. The Tampa-based facility is one of only 53 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, a distinction that recognizes Moffitt’s scientific excellence, multidisciplinary research, and robust training and education. Moffitt’s expert nursing staff is recognized by the American Nurses Credentialing Center with Magnet® status, its highest distinction. With more than 7,800 team members, Moffitt has an economic impact in the state of $2.4 billion. For more information, call 1-888-MOFFITT (1-888-663-3488), visit MOFFITT.org, and follow the momentum on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

About the Tampa Bay Lightning
The Tampa Bay Lightning joined the National Hockey League in 1992 and have since become one of the league’s model franchises after being purchased by Tampa Bay Sports & Entertainment, an entity controlled by Chairman and Governor Jeff Vinik, in March of 2010.  Since then the organization has experienced success on and off the ice, highlighted by back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 2020 and 2021, the franchise’s second and third overall. Tampa Bay has advanced to the third round or better in six of the previous eight seasons, including four Stanley Cup Final appearances. Off the ice, the Lightning have experienced a complete renaissance and brand revival which has led to record support from corporate partners and Season Ticket Members, both of which have renewed at higher than 90 percent. A major part of that turnaround is a commitment to grassroots efforts, as evidenced by the team’s community hockey department opening 10 new outdoor street hockey rinks across the local five-county area and distributing 200,000 street hockey sticks and balls to more than 1,000 schools. Overall, the Lightning, along with the NHL and NHLPA, have invested more than $6 million to grow the sport and teach life skills to youth throughout the community.  In recognition of the team’s efforts, Tampa Bay was nominated for the Sports Business Journal’s 2020 Sports Team of the Year.  Vinik Sports Group was created in February of 2020 to serve as the parent company of the team, AMALIE Arena, as well as other sports and entertainment assets.

About Port Tampa Bay
Port Tampa Bay is Florida's largest port, supporting nearly 85,000 jobs and generating more than $17 billion in annual economic impact. In addition to being a top 10 U.S. cruise port, the port handles a wide array of bulk, break bulk, containers and roll-on/roll-off cargoes, and is a major shipbuilding and repair center. For more information, visit www.portTB.com.