Division II sets Make-A-Wish fundraising record

Division II schools raised more than $608,000 for Make-A-Wish during the 2015-16 academic year, marking the fifth consecutive year the division has set a fundraising record.

The division has raised more than $4.7 million for Make-A-Wish since beginning its partnership with the nonprofit 13 years ago. Those funds have been used to grant more than 590 wishes for children around the country who face life-threatening medical conditions. 

During the 2015-16 academic year, every conference raised funds for Make-A-Wish, with 238 Division II schools participating nationwide and in Canada. Five conferences had 100 percent participation by its members: the East Coast Conference, the Heartland Conference, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference, the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference and the South Atlantic Conference. Two conferences — the Peach Belt Conference and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference — set a record by raising more than $60,000 each. At the campus level, the University of North Georgia led the way by bringing in $34,000, also a record.

The Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee established the partnership with Make-A-Wish in 2003 and continues to drive the division-wide initiative. SAAC continued a model adopted last year in which money collected from championship and enforcement fines are added to institutional fundraising totals to allow institutions the opportunity to host a wish reveal party on campus. In 2015-16, five schools raised above the national average cost of a wish reveal — $9,500 — and automatically earned a wish reveal party. For an additional 21 schools, which all raised $5,000 or more, SAAC will award money from the fines to help them meet the minimum fundraising requirement for a wish reveal.

“The fundraising effort for Make-A-Wish is so important because it provides SAAC and Division II athletes the chance to realize the positive impact they can have in someone’s life,” said Christopher Pike, a former football student-athlete at Gannon University and former Division II SAAC chair. “Division II SAAC couldn’t be more pleased with this year’s Make-A-Wish efforts, and we continually hope that we as a division can keep raising the bar because together we are making a huge difference.”

Top institutions and wish reveal hosts

Top institutions and wish reveal hosts