UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The 17th Annual Penn State Uplifting Athletes "Lift for Life" was a tremendous success Friday. The preliminary fundraising total for the 2019 event is $50,682 to benefit Uplifting Athletes and its commitment to life skills development, patient focused programs and rare disease research. The 2018-19 fundraising total for the Penn State chapter currently sits at $56,018. The 17-year total for Penn State Uplifting Athletes is now nearly $1.45 million.
Donations to Penn State's Lift for Life will remain open until Monday, July 22. Fans can track the live total or donate by visiting the chapter's fundraising site at pledgeit.org/pennstatelift19. Fans can support Uplifting Athletes throughout the year by visiting upliftingathletes.org/donate or by sending a donation to Uplifting Athletes, 8 Atkinson Drive, PO Box 574, Doylestown, PA 18901. Please make checks payable to Uplifting Athletes and write Penn State Chapter in the memo section.
With the $56,018 in contributions from this year, nearly $1.45 million has been raised by Penn State Uplifting Athletes since the inaugural Lift for Life was held in 2003. The inaugural event raised just under $13,000.
The Penn State Lift for Life featured more than 100 members of the Nittany Lion football team and was held at Holuba Hall, with approximately 1,000 fans in attendance. The exhibition featured rotations of one-on-one battles in the tire flip, sled pull, bench press and farmer's hold, followed by tug of war competitions.
The 2019 Penn State Lift for Life included a kids clinic for the sixth year in a row, which was run by the Nittany Lion true freshmen football student-athletes. The event concluded with an autograph session with team.
The Penn State Chapter of Uplifting Athletes would like to thank the following individuals and groups that have generously donated to the cause: Brite 3, Michael Shimko Memorial Golf Classic, Penn State Athletics Marketing & Promotions, Keystone Sports Network and PLEDGE IT. Special thanks to Lauren Geppert, Will Flaherty, Dwight Galt III, John Trzeciak, Kris Petersen, Steve Jones, the Penn State Football interns and the family and friends of Daniel Jordan.
Founded by Penn State Football teammates Scott Shirley, Dave Costlow and Damone Jones in 2003, Lift for Life has benefitted cancer research and the rare disease community. The 2019 Uplifting Athletes officers are: quarterback Sean Clifford, president; long snapper Chris Stoll, vice president; defensive tackle Evan Presta, treasurer; offensive lineman Mike Miranda, director of operations; safety Justin Neff, director of player logistics; long snapper Joe Calcagno, secretary.
About Uplifting Athletes: A nonprofit organization founded in 2007, Uplifting Athletes inspires the rare disease community with hope through the power of sport. A rare disease is one that affects fewer than 200,000 Americans and typically lacks financial incentive to make and market new treatments. With a network of university chapters run by current college football student-athletes, Uplifting Athletes has established 28 chapters with Division I football programs across the country. Since it was founded, Uplifting Athletes has raised more than $4.5 million in support of the Rare Disease Community, and a third of that, $1.5 million, has been given to fund rare disease research. The Young Investigator Draft has become our priority to funding rare disease research in the future. The mission of Uplifting Athletes is accomplished through four charitable programs: Rare Disease Awareness, Rare Disease Research, Uplifting Experiences and Uplifting Leaders. For more information about Uplifting Athletes, visit www.upliftingathletes.org.
The Nittany Lions' home schedule features three non-conference games and four Big Ten Conference match-ups. The Nittany Lions open the season against Idaho (Aug. 31; 3:30 p.m.), Buffalo (Sept. 7; 7:30 p.m.) and the 100th all-time meeting with Pittsburgh (Sept. 14; noon) in non-conference action. In Big Ten play, Penn State welcomes Purdue (Oct. 5; noon), Michigan (Oct. 19), Indiana (Nov. 15) and Rutgers (Nov. 30) to Happy Valley.
For information on joining the Nittany Lion Club and reserving new season tickets for the 2019 Penn State Football season presented by PSECU, as well as club seating in Beaver Stadium, fans can visit www.PSUnrivaled.com, call 1-800-NITTANY weekdays from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. or visit the Bryce Jordan Center ticket office weekdays from 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
Nearly 4,500 new season tickets have already been sold for the 2019 campaign.
