Aug. 30, 2011
By Chardonnai Johnson, GoPSUsports.com Student Staff Writer
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -It's Fri., Sept. 2 and you walk into your classroom. Your cell phone is glued to your hand, book bag slung across your shoulder, and a look of surprise shadows your face. You freeze.
Everyone in the room seems to be wearing blue and white. The girl you sit next to everyday, but barely talk to. The person that consistently sits in the front row and answers every question asked. Even your straight-laced professor that never cracks a smile is decked out in the colors of his alma mater.
While it might seem like you just walked into the Penn State section at a home football game, you haven't. It's the College Kick-Off Challenge, the Penn State community's way of showing pride and helping out a worthy cause.
Uplifting Athletes, a non-profit Penn State organization devoted to raising money for rare diseases, will team up with College Colors Day, for the College Kick-off Challenge on Fri., Sept. 2 to raise money in support of rare disease advocacies.
The organization, founded in 2003 when a Penn State football player's father was diagnosed with kidney cancer, is managed by current football student-athletes and was the first chapter of its kind established in the nation. Since its founding, Uplifting Athletes has led to the funding of 16 rare disease projects.
The challenge, a celebration of the start of the football season, asks that the public take part in the promotion of school pride and the mission of Uplifting Athletes by wearing Blue and White, hosting college football themed fundraisers, and making individual donations online.
The fundraisers can be anything from hosting a "dress-down" day at the office where employees make a small donation in order to participate, to a tailgate where all your guests donate a few dollars to attend.
All of the proceeds benefit the organization's support of rare disease advocacy, education, outreach, and research. Donations and instructions for involvement can be found at the Uplifting Athletes website, http://www.upliftingathletes.org/college-kickoff-challenge.
Your schedule might be too hectic to join in on the fun on Sept. 2, but that's not a problem. The challenge is not the only time to get involved. The organization encourages the public to continue to host community, business, or social event fundraisers throughout the season, as well. Hosting and attending events aren't the only options though.
You can still do your part by purchasing some new gear to show off your college pride. Head over to Penn State Athletics' new official online shop on GoPSUsports.com (http://shop.gopsusports.com/) for over 1,500 Penn State items and a portion of the earnings from your purchase will go to Uplifting Athletes. Flaunting your pride has never been so humane.
The generosity of the public and hosting events such as the challenge doesn't hurt either. In fact, it helps, really helps. The Penn State chapter of Uplifting Athletes, alone, has raised more than $500,000 to benefit kidney cancer research since 2003.
The group's efforts have even inspired several colleges nationwide to adopt their own Uplifting Athletes chapters, making the entire organization's earnings in 2010 equal to $1,382,000. There are now nine chapters across the country devoted to the cause.
The College Kick-Off Challenge will give the Penn State community the chance to support both their team and the cause of Uplifting Athletes as well as an opportunity to inspire the medical community to find a cure. So when you walk into that class or work on Fri., Sept. 2, don't be the elephant in the room. Be that kid painted from head to toe in Blue and White in support of the cause.