Oakdale, NY- Throughout the year, Dowling College Athletics and the Make-A-Wish Foundation have teamed up to raise money and awareness for children facing life threatening illnesses. Through the Dowling Athletics Wishmakers initiative and with the help of all teams and staff, Dowling has raised $17,163.26 thus far, allowing 3 children to receive wishes. This total is the most raised by any one DII institution in NCAA history.
What started off as a goal to raise enough to grant one wish for a less fortunate child blossomed into what would turn out to be the one of the most successful community service initiatives taken on in the history of Dowling Athletics. The first major Wish Makers event was the 1st Annual Men's Lacrosse Wishmaker's Fall Classic. The Dowling Men's Lacrosse team would play host to Manhattan College, Sacred Heart University, and C.W. Post University, with all proceeds at the gate and donations through various raffles going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Over 300 supporters showed up for the event as they caught some exciting lacrosse games all for a good cause. At the end of the day, $3,785 was raised for this great cause.
The Dowling Golf team soon after donated a generous $500 gift from the Peter King Memorial Tournament.
The 17th Annual Dowling Alumni Regatta hosted by the Men's and Women's Rowing teams saw more than 10 teams compete on the Connetquot River in early November. Through entry fees and donations, both teams raised $1,843 on the day.
With this initial success, Dowling's athletic teams realized they were onto something and decided to push even further to not only meet their goal, but completely obliterate it.
Starting in the fall, the Men's and Women's Basketball teams began selling Make-A-Wish "stars" to help raise more money. With hundreds of stars lining the halls of Golden Lions Gymnasium, the culmination of this portion of the initiative was at the "Pack the Gym" night and Alumni night for both basketball teams. With over 700 people in attendance, Dowling Athletics raised $6,785 through ticket sales, raffles, and sales of the Make-A-Wish stars. The high point of the night was when a former recipient of a Make-A-Wish gift accepted a check for another child in need. Video of this event can be found
HERE.
"It's often easy to forget how lucky we really are. Doing something like this brings us back down to earth and makes us realize a lot of people aren't as lucky as we are," said Chris Green, student-athlete and President of the Dowling S.A.A.C..
The spring season started off with a bang as the Dowling Softball team teamed up with Applebees. Through the "Dining to Donate" program, 10% of all checks were donated to the Wishmakers initiative. With check donations and money raised through the Softball Alumni Game, $467.07 was raised total. Dowling Baseball did their part as well as they raised $438 through their Alumni Game ticket sales.
Also throughout the year, the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee coordinated "Denim Days" for the campus. In exchange for a $5 donation to Make-A-Wish, staff were allowed to wear jeans on designated Fridays. This initiative has raised $1,651.36 to date.
In addition to the "Denim Days" program, the SAAC also sold stars, held bake sales, and ran a penny war to raise $1,752.36 throughout the year.
Through the efforts of the student-athletes at Dowling, to date, Dowling Athletics has raised $17,347.90 to go towards the Make-A-Wish foundation, breaking the initial goal of 3 wishes ($16,500) and, in turn, totaling more money raised than any other single DII institution in NCAA history for Make-A-Wish.
"When I heard that our student-athletes had set a goal of raising enough to fund three wishes (each requires about $5,000) this year, I was floored." said Vice President for Athletics and Institutional Advancement, Rick Cole Jr. "Who goes from $1,000 one year to three wishes the next? Now they have raised almost $18,000. I'm more proud of what they've done with this initiative than with anything I've seen from them athletically, academically, or philanthropically since I've been at Dowling. It has been truly inspiring."
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The Division II National Student-Athlete Advisory Committee led the NCAA with its first national community service initiative by embarking upon a fundraiser with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. This national fundraiser supports one of the NCAA core values: the role that intercollegiate athletics plays in the higher education mission and in enhancing the sense of community and strengthening the identity of member institutions. The Division II SAAC has constituted one of the largest grass-roots contributions to Make-A-Wish.
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