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Bronx, N.Y. (July 30, 2014) – Just before it was announced that the 2014 Fordham University Rams are the preseason favorites to win the Patriot League football crown, members of the team met in the Walsh Athletic Training Center to hold Fordham's third annual Life for Life fundraiser to raise funds for their Uplifting Athletes chapter.
 
Uplifting Athletes is a 501(c)(3) national non-profit organization that aligns college football with rare disease research. There are currently 21 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 not 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.
 
The Fordham Uplifting Athletes chapter was formed in 2012 under the leadership of Andrew Milmore, Daniel Avedesian and James Avdesian and they identified pediatric brain cancer research, specifically extrarenal rhabdoid tumors as their rare disease.
 
It was an easy choice for the Rams to decide on a rare disease as just prior to forming the chapter, the Rams adopted Ty Campbell, a young boy who was suffering from an extrarenal rhabdoid tumor. Unfortunately, Ty lost his battle with the disease in October of 2012 but the Rams still fight on in his memory.
 
Last year, the Rams added another child, Jonah Shainberg, a student at The Child School on Randall's Island, who was diagnosed with a brain tumor six years ago and underwent numerous treatments for two years. The tumor caused Jonah to suffer a stroke, which left the right side of his body weakened. He is undergoing therapy to regain control of his right side. He is an honorary member of the team with his own locker in the Fordham locker room.
 
Seniors Stephen Hodge, Austin Hancock and Marc DeSisto have taken over the reins of Fordham Uplifting Athlete chapter and look to be even more successful this year. Their goal is to raise $7,000 for the year and they have plans for various fundraisers throughout the year as well as t-shirt sales that will help them reach the goal.
 
Donations are easily made through the Fordham "Lift for Life" team page at www.upliftingathletes.org/ua-chapter/fordham.