For Immediate Release: February 6, 2007
Contact: David O'Brian (dobrian@binghamton.edu)
Phone: 607-777-6478

Binghamton athletes raise over $28,000 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

St. Jude Website

VESTAL, N.Y. - Binghamton University student-athletes have climbed to new heights in their continued support for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. At last semester's Up 'til Dawn program, 320 student-athletes representing all 21 of Binghamton's teams wrote 10,007 fundraising letters which have raised over $28,000 to date. This exceeds last year's total of 284 athletes writing 7,022 letters which raised over $25,000.

Organized by Binghamton's Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), the event (which was held Nov. 12) consisted of teams of eight who worked from 6-10 p.m. in the Mandela Room on campus, addressing fundraising letters to friends and family members. Each athlete was asked to bring names and addresses of 50 people, and the groups competed for prizes and were treated to food and music throughout the evening.

"Binghamton University continues to be one of the top three Up til Dawn School in New York State," St. Jude's Regional Marketing Director Tyler Harding said. "We can not thank the student athletes enough for all that have done for the children of St. Jude Children's Hospital."

Senior Mary Tursi (Staten Island, N.Y.), the current president of SAAC, came up with the idea to help out St. Jude Hospital two years ago.

"I was at a movie during my sophomore year and before the previews, there was a short video about St. Jude," she said. "I was really touched by what their goals were and when I talked to the people at SAAC, they thought it was a great idea. It was too late in the year to do the (Up Til Dawn) program but we started the following year."

Tursi, along with fellow SAAC officers Adam Goldberg (New Rochelle, N.Y.), Kristy Doerner (Shoreham, N.Y.) and Rob Nolte (Schenectady, N.Y.) spearheaded this year's campaign. Tursi credits former SAAC president Lauren Verrusio with organizing the initial event last year.

St. Jude will sponsor a party in the spring, when the total fundraising amount raised by Binghamton's athletes will be revealed.

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is internationally recognized for its pioneering work in finding cures and saving children with cancer and other catastrophic diseases. Founded by late entertainer Danny Thomas and based in Memphis, Tenn., St. Jude freely shares its discoveries with scientific and medical communitites around the world. No family ever pays for treatments not covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay.

NOTE: The St. Jude event is one of many community outreach programs initiated by the staff and student-athletes at Binghamton University. The SAAC as well as many individual sports teams also work with local fundraising organizations and schools throughout the year.