INDIANAPOLIS---NCAA Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) members have presented the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of America with a check totaling more than $30,000 to fund wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions.
SAAC provides feedback to NCAA governance councils and committees, and is considered the student-athlete voice within the NCAA governance system. SAAC members are leaders and role models who address concerns and issues at the national level that affect the more than 360,000 NCAA student-athletes on their campuses and in their communities.
The NCAA check presentation was made during the Closing Ceremonies of the inaugural Division II National Championships Festival held recently in Orlando. The "Olympic-type" event featured Division II student-athletes contending for national titles in six sports in one geographical location. At the close of the festival, members of the Division II SAAC presented the Make-A-Wish Foundation® with a check for $23,000 from funds raised throughout the year at NCAA events and on their campuses. The Division II presidents and management councils also contributed a $10,000 match to the student-athletes' efforts to bring the donation total to $33,000.
Nicole DeBlois, a junior marketing major and women's volleyball student-athlete at Bentley College in Waltham, Massachusetts developed the idea to work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation® and coordinated the project from start to finish with her student-athlete peers. DeBlois said she selected the Make-A-Wish Foundation® based on the positive impact the worldwide organization has had granting wishes worldwide for more than 110,000 children with life-threatening medical conditions.
"It has been awesome to work with the Make-A-Wish Foundation® , and I think this pilot project has been a very good growth experience for Division II," DeBlois said. "I believe this initiative can and will continue. Student-athletes in Divisions I and III also have expressed interest in getting involved, which is terrific."
"At Bentley, and in Division II, we stress how important it is to be a role model, and we think it is important to carry that belief over to what we do because it is something that we, as student-athletes, stand for."
Deblois approached the Division II SAAC about the project at the 2003 NCAA Convention, and the committee initially committed to raising $5,000 for the Foundation. Each NCAA Division II college and university was then asked to help raise funds for the project through campus, conference and community fundraising initiatives. In addition to what was raised through the fundraising initiatives, Division II SAAC also raised funds for the Foundation at the 2004 NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, which was attended by nearly 1,800 NCAA presidents, athletics administrators and constituents, and at the Division II Student-Athlete Leadership Action Academy in La Jolla, California.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation® has been in existence since 1980, granting wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy. The Foundation is one of the world's most well-known charities and has maintained the grassroots fulfillment of its mission.
"I was absolutely floored by the amount raised and was so pleased with the student-athletes," said Janice Ingrando, vice-president of program development with the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of Central and Northern Florida. "I know it took a lot of effort and hard work to do what they did and I know their efforts will make a lot of wishes come true for children across the country. This was absolutely great." Ingrando accepted the donation on behalf of the Make-A-Wish Foundation® of America.
-30-
