The Colgate Men’s Football team will be hosting its sixth annual “Lift for Life” event sponsored by Uplifting Athletes. At the “Lift for Life” fundraiser, around 35 members of the football team will compete against one another in lifting and skills competitions in order to raise money and awareness for serious diseases, such as the rare cancer Ependymoma.

In previous years, the football team managed to raise more than $15,000 for this cause, making the Raiders the most successful program in the division 1 FCS chapter of Uplifting Athletes. This event has in past years and will this year serve as a testament to the Colgate football team’s collective effort to directly support those who have contributed in the fight to eliminate and/or mitigate the onset of this deadly disease throughout the world. Furthermore, Lift for Life allows Colgate football players to use their strong physical fitness and good health in order to help and assist those currently suffering from the effects of Ependymoma.

“Four years ago, we had a former coach diagnosed with Ependymoma, forging a lasting connection between the Colgate football family and this rare disease,” said Tyler Danielsen, the vice-president of Colgate’s Chapter of Uplifting Athletes. “Since then, his cancer has gone into remission, and he has fully returned to his normal life.”

Uplifting Athletes is a non-profit organization founded by former Penn State player Scott Shirley after his father died of kidney disease. Chapters of the non-profit organization are run in many universities throughout the country.

“Through the gracious support of the Colgate community and local Hamilton businesses we feel that we could make a significant contribution to the on going fight against Ependymoma,” said Danielsen.

The football team will hold the sixth iteration of this event this spring.

Contact Alan Pleat at [email protected].