North Carolina women’s basketball coach Sylvia Hatchell isn’t the first head coach at UNC to give back to the community.

Hatchell, who had her own battle with cancer in 2000, donated $50,000 to the N.C. Cancer Hospital’s Pediatric Oncology Endowment Fund to help the kids keep up their school work during cancer treatment.

A classroom will be named in honor of her generosity.

Hatchell’s counterparts, North Carolina men’s basketball coach Roy Williams and baseball coach Mike Fox, have both contributed heavily to UNC-based charities.

At a press conference acknowledging Hatchell’s donation, her team sat on the sidelines supporting their head coach rather than the other way around. She stood as an example to her team in fighting a more intense campaign with cancer.

“It is a good example for us to see what we can do,” sophomore guard Krista Gross said.

One of Hatchell’s players, Jessica Breland, a leading scorer and rebounder in the 2008-09 season, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in spring 2009.

Breland was treated at the N.C. Cancer Hospital and is expected to rejoin the team for the 2010-11 season.

Hatchell’s gift comes on top of her fundraising idea last summer to allow anyone to pick blueberries on her property near Black Mountain, N.C. The fee for picking the blueberries was based on the honor system: Hatchell said she trusted her visitors to send a $5 check to the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center.

“I would challenge other people to get involved over here,” Hatchell said. “This is the No. 1 cancer center in the Southeast and one of the top five in the country. What is the better way to give back than being involved in the center?”

It is a gift to say thanks and a gift to give back, Hatchell said.

“When on this earth, everything we have really does not belong to us,” Hatchell said. “The Lord has put me in charge of a lot of things I have control over. I want to make sure I give it back, so this is just a way to give back.”

In the Pediatric Hematology Oncology Program, about 150 children are treated for acute lymphocytic leukemia and 70 for brain tumors at any given time.

“It is an incredible donation,” said Stuart Gold, division chief of pediatric hematology and oncology. “It helps take better care of the kids and makes the kids like it here much better. These kids can continue their education while they are receiving treatments.”

The donation will provide educational materials, including books and computer software, Gold said.

“The fact she could do this for her (player), for the kids, for the moms of kids with cancer … It is fantastic. It is wonderful,” said Gerrie Misner, mother of two children who are being treated at the hospital.

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