- Uplifting Athletes
Uplifting Athletes was founded in 2003 by a group of
college football teammates who turned an annual weight lifting competition into a fund-raiser when a player’s father was diagnosed with kidney cancer. Since then, the effort has evolved into a nonprofit organization that leverages college football to change the perception of underservedrare disease s and raise them as a national priority. [cite web|url=http://www.upliftingathletes.org|title= Uplifting Athletes|publisher=Scott Shirley, Uplifting Athletes|accessdate=2008-06-16]Rare Diseases
One out of 12 Americans have been diagnosed with a rare disease. In order for a disease to be classified as "rare", it must affect fewer than 200,000 people in the United States. [cite web|url=http://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/RareDiseaseList.aspx|title= Rare Diseases and Related Terms|publisher=National Institute of Health Office of Rare Diseases|accessdate=2008-06-16]
Chapters
Uplifting Athletes currently has a chapter at Penn State University. The Penn State University football team has chosen to support the Kidney Cancer Association. To date the team has raised $225,000 dollars. The Penn State chapter raises funds and awareness through its annual weight-lifting competition, Lift for Life. [cite web|url=http://www.upliftingathletes.org|title= Uplifting Athletes|publisher=Scott Shirley, Uplifting Athletes|accessdate=2008-06-16] This competition allows Penn State football players to compete in teams of four in a fun-to-watch eleven event strength and conditioning challenge. The exercises range from the ordinary (such as the
bench press ) to the extreme (such as the giant tire flip) and are designed to test both the mental and physical toughness of the participating athletes. [cite web|url=http://www.psuliftforlife.org/lfl/event_history.htm|title= Lift for Life|publisher=Lift for Life|accessdate=2008-06-16]Uplifting Athletes will also be working with The Ohio State University football team. Ohio State has also chosen to support the Kidney Cancer Association and hold a video game tournament to support the cause.
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
