GLENSIDE, Pa. - Arcadia University's Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) set out to make a difference in the communities surrounding Glenside, but were unaware of just how big of a difference they could make prior to launching the 'U-Knight for the Front Line' campaign in October. In five short days, the $1,338 in donations from over 300 donors - followed by an eye-opening trip to Costco - immediately put those early suspicions to rest.

"Following our first SAAC meeting, many student-athletes voiced how they would like to show appreciation for the front line workers risking their lives every day during the pandemic," Arcadia women's soccer senior and SAAC Executive Board member, Eva Ruppersberger, said. "After the executive board met several times to figure out the best way to do that, we came up with a social media-based fundraising campaign through the use of a virtual bingo board which allowed everyone in the athletic department to raise money by crossing off various dollar amounts on their board when the corresponding donation was made."

The SAAC Executive Board originally planned to use the donated funds to purchase refreshments such as water, coffee, juice, and snacks and deliver them to one local hospital. However, after the fundraiser was announced on Instagram on October 10, the overwhelming amount of donations led to a change in plans.

"We gave Arcadia student-athletes five days to raise as much money as they could, and despite the executive board having a total in mind, we managed to blow past that," Ruppersberger remarked. "By the end of the week, we had roughly 315 donors and raised $1,338."

"The amount of donations we received was overwhelming, but we didn't realize how much money we had until we were at Costco with three full carts already checked out and still with over $500-$600 left to spend," Arcadia men's soccer junior and SAAC Executive Board member, Jake Varrato, said. "The whole time we were gathering our supplies, I kept reiterating that there was no way we could give this to just one hospital. There's just no way."

While we were outside Costco unpacking and sorting the six carts worth of supplies, we were able to see fully how much stuff we actually bought. Shortly after, we came to the very quick conclusion that we would make donations to three different hospitals - Abington Memorial, Doylestown Hospital, and Temple University Hospital - which is unbelievable."



The SAAC Executive Committee used the week of October 19 to drop off the donations at the three local hospitals and show their appreciation for all of the front line workers' efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic. Varrato visited Abington Hospital on Monday, while Lauren Dougherty and Danielle Duffy took donations to Doylestown Hospital and Temple University Hospital, respectively, on Tuesday, October 20.

"When I pulled up to the hospital entrance at Doylestown I was greeted by a woman with a small rolling cart and after I opened my car trunk and back doors, she quickly realized that her small cart wouldn't be enough," Dougherty, a senior on the Arcadia field hockey team and SAAC Executive Board member, remarked. 

"She was shocked and so excited about how many donations we brought! She was extremely thankful and confirmed with me that the donations would be going to good use. I showed her pictures of our other drop-offs and she couldn't believe that we also helped two other hospitals."

Arcadia SAAC has several more initiatives in the works for the 2020-21 academic year, including taking part in the NCAA's Diversity and Inclusion Week October 27-29 among others.