Annual Vitale gala to honor three

Chris Berman, Bob Huggins and Brian Kelly will be the honorees at the 12th annual Dick Vitale Gala in April, the V Foundation for Cancer Research and Vitale announced.

The fundraising event will take place at The Ritz Carlton Sarasota on Friday, May 12.

Berman has served as host of ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown for 31 seasons and been a part of SportsCenter for more than 38 years. Huggins, the West Virginia University men’s basketball coach, recently became the 10th NCAA coach to win 800 games. Kelly, the football coach at Notre Dame, founded, along with his wife, Paqui, the Kelly Cares Foundation. Paqui Kelly is a two-time cancer survivor.

Each honoree will speak during the evening, and throughout the ceremony, the late John Saunders will be remembered and celebrated. Saunders, a founding member of the V Foundation Board of Directors, was a 10-time emcee of the gala.

Vitale and the V Foundation anticipate more than 800 attendees this year as they pursue a goal of the event raising $3 million. The gala has raised more than $18 million to date in the battle against pediatric cancer.

For more information or for tickets to the gala, log on to jimmyv.org/vitale.

Herald staff report

This story was originally published February 9, 2017 at 12:23 AM with the headline "Annual Vitale gala to honor three."