"We Back Pat" Week Scores High for Alzheimer's Awareness

'We Back Pat' Campaign Unites Pat Summitt Foundation Fund, Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, University of Tennessee, the Southeastern Conference & College Basketball Fans Worldwide in the Fight Against Alzheimer's

The week of January 15-22 witnessed an unparalleled display of encouragement for Coach Summitt across the SEC, as each of the 12 SEC member institutions demonstrated support toward the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund during each of their home basketball games. In order to increase awareness of the Foundation Fund, various efforts were made, including the sale of team branded 'We Back Pat' merchandise through the teams' online stores and during key conference matchups throughout the week. Tennessee fans can still find 'We Back Pat' merchandise for sale at Shop.UTSports.com. All SEC team merchandise in support of the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund is available at Fanatics.com.

"Pat Summitt has changed the game of women's basketball for 38 seasons and the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund is committed to changing the game of Alzheimer's disease. The Fund aids in the education and awareness of Alzheimer's, and research to treat, prevent, cure and eliminate this disease," said Danielle Donehew, Associate Commissioner for the BIG EAST Conference and representative for The Pat Summitt Foundation Fund. "We are grateful for the continued support of hundreds of fans, organizations, and companies including Fanatics Cares, the Southeastern Conference, the Collegiate Licensing Company, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, and the University of Tennessee. The Fanatics Cares line of 'We Back Pat' merchandise is another example of the outpouring of support as Pat Summitt faces her toughest opponent."

Fanatics initially partnered with the University of Tennessee during the fall of 2010 with the launch of the official online store of Tennessee Athletics. To further their successful relationship with Tennessee, Fanatics participated in a campaign to promote the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund and help in the fight against Alzheimer's. A single t-shirt sporting the phrase 'We Back Pat' sold out in less than one week with over 10,000 shirts purchased. Fanatics Cares was conceived in November 2011 and this year will expand into a full line of quality merchandise featuring custom 'We Back Pat' designs. To date, over $100,000 in funds has been raised to support Alzheimer's research and programs.

The T-Shirts that helped successfully raise the funds were supplied by Fanatics Cares, the charitable arm of Fanatics, Inc., the world's largest online retailer of officially licensed sports merchandise. Kicking off its first campaign with the launch of the Pat Summitt Foundation Fund in 2011, Fanatics Cares partnered with the University of Tennessee to help in the fight against Alzheimer's. The 'We Back Pat' initiative started with a simple shirt that sold out in less than a week and this year will grow to an entire line of merchandise including hoodies, sweatshirts, women's and children's apparel that display custom designs created by a team who are fanatic about helping others. Learn more about Fanatics at www.fanatics.com.

"The goal of the 'We Back Pat' campaign has always been to give Tennessee fans the opportunity to demonstrate their support of Coach Summitt, while generating awareness and increasing funds for Alzheimer's research," said Chris Fuller, Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Operations at the University of Tennessee.