Meet the Buckeyes!
COLUMBUS, Ohio (7/22/08) – Ohio State football student-athletes have started a student organization called Uplifting Athletes, joining other college football programs in an effort to make rare diseases better known. The first event will be a college football video game tournament on Wednesday, July 30, at Eddie George’s Grille 27 in Columbus from 4 - 8 p.m. The event will raise funds for the Kidney Cancer Association and increase awareness for this rare disease.
The event will feature approximately 20 Ohio State football student-athletes competing head-to-head in a fun to watch video game. Buckeye football fans will have a chance to meet the players and get autographs during the competition in addition to winning door prizes.
“The Uplifting Athletes organization allows the Ohio State players to raise awareness of people to rare diseases,” said junior safety Kurt Coleman. “This video game tournament will bring our fans out to interact with the players and learn more about kidney cancer as a rare disease. As players, this is a great way to use college football to help a group of people who need it the most.”
“It’s also a great opportunity for us to run an organization and gain practical job skills while staying on campus to focus on school and football over the summer,” said senior wide receiver Ben Kacsandi.
Admission to the event is $65.00 with proceeds benefiting the Kidney Cancer Association. Only a limited number of tickets are available. Uplifting Athletes was started at Ohio State by former Buckeye Matt Daniels (‘08), whose father is currently battling kidney cancer. Ohio State joins Penn State, Maryland and Colgate in the Uplifting Athletes program.
Uplifting Athletes is a 501 (c) 3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to align college football with rare diseases to raise them as a national priority. University chapters are operated by current football student-athletes and raise funds and awareness for a rare disease relevant to their team. For more information about Uplifting Athletes and on purchasing tickets, please visit www.upliftingathletes.org.
