Findlay SAAC Raises $7,500 for Make-A-Wish

Findlay, Ohio - The University of Findlay Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) spent time in the 2016-17 academic year raising money to be donated to the Make-A-Wish campaign that grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical concerns. By year's end, Findlay's SAAC raised $7,500, the 13th-highest total in the country and more than every other Great Midwest Athletic Conference (GMAC) school combined. In total, NCAA Division II schools raised more than $634,000 for Make-A-Wish, a new record.

Since the Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee established the partnership with Make-A-Wish in 2003, the division has raised over $5.3 million for the nonprofit organization. Those funds have been used to grant wishes to more than 660 kids across the country with life-threatening medical conditions.

"Division II values its partnership with Make-A-Wish and loves the ability to support an organization that does so much good for so many people," said Jasmyn Lindsay, a former softball student-athlete at Queens (North Carolina) and Division II SAAC chair. "As student-athletes, we know that we face struggles and adversity, but these obstacles oftentimes pale in comparison to what a Make-A-Wish family is going through. We are fortunate to have campuses and communities that support us, and we want to give that back to families who are facing hard times."

More than 81 percent of the Division II schools participated in raising money for Make-A-Wish. More than 250 schools from all 24 Division II conferences participated, including 100 percent participation from three conferences: Great Midwest Athletic Conference, Heartland Conference and the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference.

The alliance with Make-A-Wish also provides student-athletes with the opportunity to see their hard work pay off. SAAC continued a model adopted two years ago in which money collected from championship and enforcement fines are added to institutional fundraising in order for institutions to have the opportunity to host a wish reveal party on campus. In 2016-17, eight institutions raised more than $10,000 — the national average cost of a wish reveal — and automatically earned a wish reveal party. An additional 22 schools raised over $4,000 and will receive money from the fines to help them meet the minimum fundraising requirement for a wish reveal.

"If you ever have any doubt that the fundraising we do has an impact on children and their families, just watch a wish reveal," Lindsay said. "The elation and gratitude that is shown by these families makes everything we do worth it. These wish reveals can change a child's outlook on their oftentimes bleak situation, and seeing that is priceless."

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