Pittsburgh, Pa. - The Saint Francis men's basketball program participated in the Beads of Courage program at the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh on Tuesday.

Beads of Courage is an arts-in-medicine program that uses beads as powerful doses of narrative medicine. Beads of Courage help children coping with serious illness record, tell and own their stories of courage.

"One of the things the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) does each year is raise awareness for cancer," said head coach Rob Krimmel. "This year, we were approached by the Palermo Foundation to participate in the Beads of Courage. We handed out the beads to all of our players and cheerleaders before the Robert Morris game and wear them around campus. We decided to take a visit to Pittsburgh to meet with some of the children that share the beads with our players."

The Saint Francis players, coaches and cheerleaders went room-to-room to spend quality time with the children, passing out beads at the end of the visits. 

"For our players to be able to come out here and have a moment to connect with these kids and put a smile on their faces was pretty neat," continued Krimmel. "To see the energy some of our guys had in the rooms talking about video games or cartoons was cool because you see them in a little bit of a different light."

To donate and to learn more about all of our programs please visit us at http://www.beadsofcourage.org.