Since the inception of the V Foundation for Cancer Research in 1993, ESPN has raised more than $155 million for the nonprofit. Last year, the company entered into its 15th V Week—a week that celebrates the legacy of former NC State basketball coach Jim Valvano while raising money for the Foundation. Fundraising became even more important this year because of an overall funding decline due to challenges from COVID-19. V Week also came shortly after beloved college basketball analyst Dick Vitale was diagnosed with cancer. ESPN created messages that encouraged sports fans to rally around Vitale. The sports giant also planned special programming highlighting the Stuart Scott Memorial Cancer Research Fund, established in 2015 by ESPN and the V Foundation to honor Stuart Scott after his passing from cancer. The Fund encourages cutting-edge research for African Americans, Hispanics and other minority populations suffering from cancer. A huge part of what makes V Week so successful is that each year a committee of more than 100 employees from nearly every department across the company devote their energy to creating innovative fundraising programs, integrating content and messaging and working with sponsors for donations. V week began on Giving Tuesday with ESPN championing the day in a variety of ways, including national radio show telecast on ESPN2 that featured guests sharing personal cancer stories and connections to the V Foundation. Also new was the development of #VStrongBaby to show support for Vitale across social platforms with a hashtag accompanied by a customized heart emoji in his honor. When V Week wrapped, ESPN had raised more than $13.35 million for the V Foundation, surpassing the previous record total of $8.8 million set in 2019.