Washington — Marcella Powell is not a huge softball fan, nor is she a political junkie. So why did she travel more than 1,000 miles from her home in Pensacola, Florida, to Washington, D.C., to take part in Wednesday’s annual Congressional Women’s Softball Game?
“When this came up, I was like, ‘I really want to do it.’ So, I did it with no hesitation, no effort, no second thoughts,” Powell said.
Unlike their male counterparts, whose annual baseball game pits Republicans against Democrats, the congressional women, who begin practicing months in advance, play together with no party affiliation. It’s just “Team Congress” against the “Bad News Babes,” a team that includes members of the media.
Republican Rep. Kimberlyn King-Hinds, a nonvoting delegate representing the Northern Mariana Islands, has enjoyed the break from partisan politics on the Hill.
“I’ll be honest, when you get in there (on Capitol Hill), it’s like Team Red or Team Blue, right? And there’s a clear delineated line,” King-Hinds told CBS News. “But here, man, it’s just women coming together, playing for a good cause.”
That good cause is why Powell is here. The game is played for a charity, the Young Survival Coalition, which helps young adults with breast cancer.
“To know me is to know me before cancer. I was just this energetic blossom, this ray of sunshine,” said Powell, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 31. “When cancer came, it kind of like, hid me. YSC helped me find my joy again.”
The Young Survival Coalition provided her with resources and connections she couldn’t find anywhere else.
Powell now organizes monthly meetings with fellow survivors. She says the meetings have become more than just a support group, but “a family.”
Family was among the reasons King-Hinds wanted to play in the softball game. Her mother and sister are both breast cancer survivors.
“You know, when they said that’s the cause they were playing for, I was let, ‘Bet, I’m down,'” King-Hinds said.
Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida co-founded the game in 2009 after she was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 41.
“I mean it’s just very emotional,” she said of the annual softball game. “It’s so deeply personal. A big part of this is raising awareness about women paying attention to their breast health.”
Seventeen games later, the event has raised close to $5 million for the Young Survival Coalition.
“It’s a wonderful feeling that everyone can come together for breast cancer,” Powell said. “I mean, it’s something that can impact anyone.”
And for the members of Congress, it’s a night to take a break from partisan division and find common ground for a cause.
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