July 20, 2012
Help the Rams in their Lift for Life Fundraiser
Bronx, N.Y. -
Sometimes it's difficult for football players to stay motivated during the days of summer, when individual workouts can seem to become monotonous as the players await the start of summer camp. Not so for the Fordham University Rams, who have decided to make their summer conditioning program pay off in more ways than just getting in better shape. They have joined with Uplifting Athletes to raise money for one of their own, Ty Campbell, a young boy suffering from an extra renal rhabdoid tumor who was "adopted" by the team last summer, with a Lift for Life promotion.
This summer, under the direction of senior offensive lineman Andrew Milmore, the Fordham football squad has been busy arranging the first fundraiser which will take place on Wednesday, July 25th, at 6:30 AM on Murphy Field, to raise funds for pediatric brain cancer research, specifically extrarenal rhabdoid tumors, in the name of Ty Campbell.
The fundraiser, "Lift for Life", has the team divided into eight smaller teams, each competing against the others in a series of competitions ranging from agility drills to tire flips to tug of war.
"We've been competing every Wednesday all summer for points which we are using as a way to raise awareness and money for pediatric brain cancer research," said Milmore. "Each team has a goal of $500 and we hope to raise $4,000 total for Ty and his family."
This will be the first of many fundraisers the football student-athletes will host this year. The Rams joined Uplifting Athletes, a 501(c)(3) national non-profit organization that aligns college football with rare disease research, at the end of the spring semester. There are currently 16 Uplifting Athletes chapters nationwide including Penn State, Notre Dame, Boston College, Colgate, and Princeton. Each chapter has adopted one of nearly 7,000 rare diseases that collectively affect close to 30 million Americans. 75% of these rare diseases affect children and 30% of children with a rare disease will no live to see their fifth birthday. Treatment options for rare disease patients are often extremely limited and 95% of rare diseases have no FDA approved drug treatments.
Fordham has chosen to focus its fundraising on pediatric brain cancer research, specifically extrarenal rhabdoid tumors, with Ty as their inspiration.
Ty and his family's story is truly inspirational and consistently inspires the Fordham Football family. Here is the link to his mother's blog, Super Ty Blog, that shares the Campbell's experiences and posts updates on Ty's progress. It also provides links to Ty's Facebook page and foundations that support kids with cancer.
"Extrarenal rhabdoid tumors are a highly aggressive soft tissue cancer that mostly affects children and the survival rate is 5%," said Milmore. "Ty Campbell is beating the odds and continues to fight every single day, but he and the other children diagnosed with the horrible disease cannot fight this fight alone. We need to help bring awareness and resources to the fight."
Donations are easily made through the Fordham "Lift for Life" team page on the Uplifting Athletes website:
Help the Rams in their Lift for Life Fundraiser
You can also donate by check. Please make the payable to Fordham Uplifting Athletes and mail it to:
Uplifting Athletes
PO Box 1298
Camp Hill PA 17001
(717) 737-9000
Donations to Uplifting Athletes are tax deductible as it is a full service nonprofit registered as a 501(c))(3) organization.
