Syracuse Holding Touchdown Pledge Drive
10/2/2019 1:22:00 PM | Football
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse chapter of Uplifting Athletes will hold a touchdown pledge drive throughout the month of October.
The leadership team of the Syracuse chapter, led by President Sam Heckel, and all the members of the 2019 Orange squad are asking fans to support them when they play NC State (Oct. 10), Pittsburgh (Oct. 18) and Florida State (Oct. 26) by making a contribution at pledgeit.org/syracuse-touchdown-pledge-drive-2019.
The proceeds from the pledge drive will go to support the mission of Uplifting Athletes and its charitable programs: awareness, research, Uplifting Experiences and Uplifting Leaders.
The challenges faced by the rare-disease community are bigger than any one individual, team or organization can tackle alone. The Syracuse chapter, along with a nationwide network of chapters led by current college football student-athletes, is uniquely positioned to educate and engage the local community and shine a spotlight on rare diseases.
Syracuse began tackling rare diseases in 2013 when it joined Uplifting Athletes. It serves the rare-disease community in honor of Rob Long, a former Orange punter and team captain who was diagnosed with Anaplastic astrocytoma, a rare form of brain cancer, in 2010. Long is a strong advocate in the fight against rare diseases and currently works as the executive director for Uplifting Athletes.
This month's touchdown pledge drive comes on the heels of the Syracuse chapter's annual "Lift for Life," which took place in July and raised more than $7,000 for the rare-disease community.
ABOUT UPLIFTING ATHLETES
A nonprofit organization founded in 2007, Uplifting Athletes inspires the rare-disease community with hope through the power of sport. A rare disease is one that affects fewer than 200,000 Americans and typically lacks financial incentive to make and market new treatments. Uplifting Athletes fulfills its mission through a network of college football student-athlete led chapters, Uplifting Ambassadors and Team UA participants. Since its inception, Uplifting Athletes has raised more than $4.5 million in support of the rare-disease community with a third of that, $1.5 million, given to fund research. To learn more about Uplifting Athletes, visit www.upliftingathletes.org.
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