5/27/15
HILTON HEAD, S.C. | The University of North Georgia Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has been awarded their fifth consecutive PBC LeeAnn Noble Make-A-Wish award for the most funds raised, announced on Tuesday at the conference’s annual meeting in Hilton Head.
North Georgia raised $11,102 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation for the 2014-15 academic year. This is the fifth year in a row that the Nighthawks have reached the five-digit mark for their annual giving, and they remain the only PBC school to reach that benchmark.
Nationally, UNG has donated the highest amount of money to the Make-A-Wish Foundation in three of the past four years.
The Make-A-Wish alliance provides student-athletes with a front-row seat to see their hard work pay off. Because the money raised during the previous academic year by five Division II institutions exceeded the national average cost of a wish, North Georgia was one of five schools that was awarded the opportunity to host a wish celebration.
The PBC Make-A-Wish awards were renamed the LeeAnn Noble Make-A-Wish Awards following the 2013-14 season. Noble was a women’s golfer at the University of North Georgia and former wish recipient from Make-A-Wish. She appeared on the cover of NCAA Champion Magazine in the fall of 2013 and sadly passed away in March of 2014. Her dedication to the Make-A-Wish program will live on with these awards that will forever bear her name.
Georgia College came in second with $8,122 and Flagler was third with $6,815. Young Harris contributed $3,855 and Montevallo rounded out the top five with $2,037.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy. Born in 1980 when a group of caring volunteers helped a young boy fulfill his dream of becoming a police officer, the Foundation is now the largest wish-granting charity I the world, with 66 chapters in the United States and its territories.
Led by the Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee, Division II schools raised $517,465 for the Make-A-Wish campaign during 2012-13, besting the previous year’s efforts by almost $50,000 and setting a Division II fundraising record.
