Brown and Hogendoorn Reflect on Attending the Uplifting Athletes Conference in Philadelphia Ahead of Lift for Life Fundraiser on April 28
4/26/2023 10:30:00 AM | Field Hockey, Volleyball, Features
In early February, junior Abbie Brown and sophomore Guusje Hogendoorn from the Lehigh field hockey team were two of 10 different Mountain Hawks from four different programs to attend the Uplifting Athletes Young Investors Draft, a two-day event that took place at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Now they, along with the Lehigh volleyball squad prepare for its first Lift for Life fundraiser on Friday, April 28.
The mission of Uplifting Athletes is to harness the power of sport to build a community that invests in the lives of people impacted by rare diseases. The vision is that no person impacted by a rare disease feels alone and everyone is inspired with hope for the future.
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Brown and Hogendoorn both discussed how they found out about the program, what it meant to be there and how being a part of this organization can show other athletes how to utilize their platform to make a difference in people's lives.
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"I found out about the organization from Dante Perri of the football team," stated Brown. "He said that they wanted more women athlete representation in the organization, so he reached out to myself and others on women's soccer and volleyball. I thought Guusje would be a great person to bring along with me, especially because she's younger than me and can continue to bring younger girls into the organization from our team. We heard great things about the organization, and we really wanted our team to be a part of it as well."
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The main story of Uplifting Athletes is built around a family's rare disease experience as the foundation, started by a Penn State University football student-athlete in 2003. A teammate suggested doing something about this, using their platform of being student-athlete to shine a light on those who needed a voice. Since the inception of the organization, Uplifting Athletes has focused on using the platform of college football and now college athletics to bring light to rare diseases while providing valuable student-athlete leadership experiences as well.
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Hogendoorn commented, "It's an organization that raises money for researchers so that they can do research about rare diseases. And it's not one specific rare disease, but every rare disease. So pro athletes, NFL players, but also student-athletes are invited to assist by using their platforms. Besides raising money, they also create uplifting experiences. So, what they've done before with NFL players is invite a family and they give them a full day of watching practice, and then giving them tickets for the game and meeting the players."
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"It's another way they feel supported and to know they have people behind them and on their side. It can definitely be hard when you think it's just you in that battle, so the organization wants to also give experiences that money can't buy," added Brown.
A leadership conference took place during the day on Saturday and Sunday, in which Brown said, "We learned about what the organization is and what our role is when we came back to school."
But the main event took place on Saturday night when the organization hosted the Young Investors Draft. Brown continued, "They presented 10 grants of $20,000 for rare disease researchers. We were able to see what our work can do, come full circle, and how it's impacting the researchers, but also those impacted by the rare diseases, which is really inspiring."
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Hogendoorn added, "I liked the researchers being celebrated about their research and presenting it like an NFL draft was super cool. Even the researchers were saying how nice to was to be celebrated for the work they have been doing, that it's not every day that the researchers get honored like this. It's obvious that they have done great things already, but to receive money to further their research, it was amazing."
Both Brown and Hogendoorn shared their thoughts on their biggest takeaways from the experience.
"I didn't realize how big of a platform we have through athletics and being a collegiate student-athlete," Brown said. "I also didn't realize how many people look up to us and how our voices can be used to spread this awareness as well as raise money for such a great cause. Before this weekend, I didn't know much about the rare disease community, so being able to hear from people who are directly impacted by rare diseases and families that are impacted by rare disease at the Leadership Conference was very impactful. Being able to hear their stories and learning how we can directly impact their lives and other's lives was also really influential."
Â
"Hearing those impactful stories gave us perspective on it too. They shared their stories about how it impacted and changed their lives, and of people in their family, for the better, and how it made them reflect on their lives."Â
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Brown and Hogendoorn were also joined by members of the football, volleyball and women's soccer teams and mentioned how their interactions with other members from the Lehigh community and other Division I schools enhanced their experience.
Â
"That was actually super cool because you never really have the opportunity to be with so many people that go through the same thing as you everyday," Hogendoorn said. "It was a great opportunity to meet so many student-athletes, from different sports and different schools."Â
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"Being a student-athlete, especially in Division I, you have limited free time," Brown added. "It's so impressive to see these athletes coming together with so much limited time, learning about this cause and doing good at their own schools. It was really exciting to be with people who have the same goals and values that we do, all together from all over the country. And in terms of Lehigh peers, it was really memorable to be able to share this experience together and be able to get to know each other better."
This Friday, April 28, both the Lehigh field hockey and volleyball teams will be hosting their first Lift For Life events to support the rare disease community. Lift For Life is the signature awareness and fundraising event for the Lehigh Chapter of Uplifting Athletes. Lehigh Field Hockey and Volleyball are a part of a national network of collegiate chapters which embrace the mission of Uplifting Athletes by using their platform to inspire and invest in the rare disease community through the power of sport.
Today, the challenges faced by the rare community are bigger than any one individual, team, or organization can tackle alone. However, the Lehigh Chapter is uniquely positioned to shine a spotlight on this cause and drive awareness beyond their field, locker room, and workout facilities through their Lift For Life which is set at an impressive $1,000 fundraising goal per team.
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Fans, family, and friends can support the Field Hockey and Volleyball teams by making a flat donation or pledging for the average number of yards thrown in the medicine ball toss during the event by visiting https://pledgeit.org/lehigh-field-hockey-lift-for-life-2023 for field hockey or https://pledgeit.org/lehigh-volleyball-lift-for-life-2023 for volleyball.
Though today, Uplifting Athletes has expanded its reach to include a network of athletes that consists of college football student-athlete-led chapters, Uplifting Ambassadors and Team UA participants. All the annual events and fundraisers associated with Uplifting Athletes fuels its four charitable programs: Rare Disease Awareness, Rare Disease Research, Uplifting Experiences and Uplifting Leaders. Since its inception, Uplifting Athletes has raised more than $6 million to support the mission of Uplifting Athletes and its charitable programs.
Â
Uplifting Athletes is a nonprofit organization founded in 2007 that harnesses the power of sport to build a community that invests in the lives of the more than 30 million people impacted by rare diseases in America. Since its inception, Uplifting Athletes has raised more than $8 million by engaging athletes in order to positively impact the rare disease community through driving action, awareness, and funding research. To learn more about Uplifting Athletes visit upliftingathletes.org.
Like Lehigh field hockey on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
The mission of Uplifting Athletes is to harness the power of sport to build a community that invests in the lives of people impacted by rare diseases. The vision is that no person impacted by a rare disease feels alone and everyone is inspired with hope for the future.
Â
Brown and Hogendoorn both discussed how they found out about the program, what it meant to be there and how being a part of this organization can show other athletes how to utilize their platform to make a difference in people's lives.
Â
"I found out about the organization from Dante Perri of the football team," stated Brown. "He said that they wanted more women athlete representation in the organization, so he reached out to myself and others on women's soccer and volleyball. I thought Guusje would be a great person to bring along with me, especially because she's younger than me and can continue to bring younger girls into the organization from our team. We heard great things about the organization, and we really wanted our team to be a part of it as well."
Â
The main story of Uplifting Athletes is built around a family's rare disease experience as the foundation, started by a Penn State University football student-athlete in 2003. A teammate suggested doing something about this, using their platform of being student-athlete to shine a light on those who needed a voice. Since the inception of the organization, Uplifting Athletes has focused on using the platform of college football and now college athletics to bring light to rare diseases while providing valuable student-athlete leadership experiences as well.
Â
Hogendoorn commented, "It's an organization that raises money for researchers so that they can do research about rare diseases. And it's not one specific rare disease, but every rare disease. So pro athletes, NFL players, but also student-athletes are invited to assist by using their platforms. Besides raising money, they also create uplifting experiences. So, what they've done before with NFL players is invite a family and they give them a full day of watching practice, and then giving them tickets for the game and meeting the players."
Â
"It's another way they feel supported and to know they have people behind them and on their side. It can definitely be hard when you think it's just you in that battle, so the organization wants to also give experiences that money can't buy," added Brown.
A leadership conference took place during the day on Saturday and Sunday, in which Brown said, "We learned about what the organization is and what our role is when we came back to school."
But the main event took place on Saturday night when the organization hosted the Young Investors Draft. Brown continued, "They presented 10 grants of $20,000 for rare disease researchers. We were able to see what our work can do, come full circle, and how it's impacting the researchers, but also those impacted by the rare diseases, which is really inspiring."
Â
Hogendoorn added, "I liked the researchers being celebrated about their research and presenting it like an NFL draft was super cool. Even the researchers were saying how nice to was to be celebrated for the work they have been doing, that it's not every day that the researchers get honored like this. It's obvious that they have done great things already, but to receive money to further their research, it was amazing."
Both Brown and Hogendoorn shared their thoughts on their biggest takeaways from the experience.
"I didn't realize how big of a platform we have through athletics and being a collegiate student-athlete," Brown said. "I also didn't realize how many people look up to us and how our voices can be used to spread this awareness as well as raise money for such a great cause. Before this weekend, I didn't know much about the rare disease community, so being able to hear from people who are directly impacted by rare diseases and families that are impacted by rare disease at the Leadership Conference was very impactful. Being able to hear their stories and learning how we can directly impact their lives and other's lives was also really influential."
Â
"Hearing those impactful stories gave us perspective on it too. They shared their stories about how it impacted and changed their lives, and of people in their family, for the better, and how it made them reflect on their lives."Â
Â
Brown and Hogendoorn were also joined by members of the football, volleyball and women's soccer teams and mentioned how their interactions with other members from the Lehigh community and other Division I schools enhanced their experience.
Â
"That was actually super cool because you never really have the opportunity to be with so many people that go through the same thing as you everyday," Hogendoorn said. "It was a great opportunity to meet so many student-athletes, from different sports and different schools."Â
Â
"Being a student-athlete, especially in Division I, you have limited free time," Brown added. "It's so impressive to see these athletes coming together with so much limited time, learning about this cause and doing good at their own schools. It was really exciting to be with people who have the same goals and values that we do, all together from all over the country. And in terms of Lehigh peers, it was really memorable to be able to share this experience together and be able to get to know each other better."
This Friday, April 28, both the Lehigh field hockey and volleyball teams will be hosting their first Lift For Life events to support the rare disease community. Lift For Life is the signature awareness and fundraising event for the Lehigh Chapter of Uplifting Athletes. Lehigh Field Hockey and Volleyball are a part of a national network of collegiate chapters which embrace the mission of Uplifting Athletes by using their platform to inspire and invest in the rare disease community through the power of sport.
Today, the challenges faced by the rare community are bigger than any one individual, team, or organization can tackle alone. However, the Lehigh Chapter is uniquely positioned to shine a spotlight on this cause and drive awareness beyond their field, locker room, and workout facilities through their Lift For Life which is set at an impressive $1,000 fundraising goal per team.
Â
Fans, family, and friends can support the Field Hockey and Volleyball teams by making a flat donation or pledging for the average number of yards thrown in the medicine ball toss during the event by visiting https://pledgeit.org/lehigh-field-hockey-lift-for-life-2023 for field hockey or https://pledgeit.org/lehigh-volleyball-lift-for-life-2023 for volleyball.
Though today, Uplifting Athletes has expanded its reach to include a network of athletes that consists of college football student-athlete-led chapters, Uplifting Ambassadors and Team UA participants. All the annual events and fundraisers associated with Uplifting Athletes fuels its four charitable programs: Rare Disease Awareness, Rare Disease Research, Uplifting Experiences and Uplifting Leaders. Since its inception, Uplifting Athletes has raised more than $6 million to support the mission of Uplifting Athletes and its charitable programs.
Â
Uplifting Athletes is a nonprofit organization founded in 2007 that harnesses the power of sport to build a community that invests in the lives of the more than 30 million people impacted by rare diseases in America. Since its inception, Uplifting Athletes has raised more than $8 million by engaging athletes in order to positively impact the rare disease community through driving action, awareness, and funding research. To learn more about Uplifting Athletes visit upliftingathletes.org.
Like Lehigh field hockey on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for continued updates on the Mountain Hawks.
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