National Collegiate Athletic Association

Latest News

« back to 2012 | Back to NCAA News Archive Index

Division II ‘Week of Wishes’ begins Feb. 18

By Cameron Schuh
NCAA.org

The NCAA Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee is celebrating its eighth annual division-wide Make-A-Wish Foundation fundraising campaign this year by launching its first Week of Wishes campaign.

All Division II institutions will be invited to host a Make-A-Wish event during the week of Feb. 18-26 to raise funds and awareness.

“The Division II SAAC has worked tirelessly over the last year and a half to develop a new initiative that would enhance the current alliance between Division II and the Make-A-Wish Foundation,” said Hilary Cox, chair of the Division II SAAC and senior softball student-athlete at North Georgia. 

“This grass-roots community relationship encompasses every attribute Division II stands for and aligns with our strategic plan. We are hoping that through the Division II’s Week of Wishes campaign, we can raise national awareness to our ongoing sponsorship of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.”

As part of the campaign, Division II friends and family across the country will have the opportunity to donate on behalf of their favorite Division II institution through a customized Division II Make-A-Wish web portal at www.wish.org/NCAADII. All donations will help further the Make-A-Wish vision to grant the wish of every eligible child and help Division II reach its goal of raising $500,000 for the Foundation this year.

“NCAA Division II student-athletes have been great advocates for our wish kids, quietly raising significant funds to help us reach more kids with life-threatening medical conditions each year and grant them life-changing wishes,” said David A. Williams, president and CEO of the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America and a former Division II student-athlete from Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. “We are excited to team with them and grow the new Week of Wishes campaign to include more schools and participants across the country.”

Many schools have already contributed to the 2011-12 campaign. They include:

• Concordia-St. Paul – Wish kid Megan Wegge served as an honorary football team captain.
• Young Harris – Held a “Breakfast with Santa” fundraiser.
• Saint Leo – Has set a goal of raising $10,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

To see more campaign stories from Division II institutions, go to Facebook.com/NCAADivisionII.

The Make-A-Wish fundraising campaign is an integral part of the overall Division II “Life in Balance” philosophy. Division II was the first NCAA division to sponsor a division-wide community-service campaign, and during 2010-11, Division II institutions and student-athletes raised more than $405,000 for the Foundation. Over the previous seven years, the Division II SAAC has raised more than $1.9 million, helping to grant many wishes for courageous kids.