Last Shift 2020 Campaign Raises over $90,000 for the HEADstrong Foundation 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Jennifer Hoffman

Phone: 610-461-5987 ext 303

Email: jhoffman@headstrong.org 

 

Last Shift 2020 Campaign Raises over $90,000 for the HEADstrong Foundation 

 

Over 2,000 runners and 165 teams representing collegiate, high school, and club athletic programs across the country participated in the #LastShift2020 Virtual 5k on Monday April 6th, 2020 in honor of National Student Athlete Day. The virtual event raised over $90,000 which, given the current circumstances, is an amazing success in itself. 

 

Teams and coaches from all different states, divisions and sports joined forces and came together in solidarity one last time in honor of something bigger than themselves. Even Athletic Directors joined in on the run, Marquette’s AD Mike Broeker ran the 5k with his family and St. John’s AD Mike Cragg participated as well. Led by three of Division I standout student athletes, Grant Ament, Ally Kennedy and Michael Sowers, the trio was able to use their platform to help others during this time of need. All proceeds of the event will go directly to cancer patients and their families, who are at the highest risk of contracting COVID-19.

 

The event kicked off at 12 noon EST with HEADstrong streaming live on Instagram to give their audience the opportunity to hear from cancer patients, survivors, foundation staff members, as well as Ally, Grant and Michael. Even though runners were miles apart from their teammates they were able to stay connected through social media. 

 

HEADstrong President Cheryl Colleluori reminded viewers on the live stream what the day was all about and shared the story of her son Nick’s last shift before he succumbed to cancer in 2006. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you so much for honoring the life of our founder, my son, Nicholas by participating in the Last Shift Virtual 5k.  By doing so it has allowed us to fulfill our promise to him that others that follow in his footsteps would benefit from the life he lived and for being part of something much greater than yourself.” remarked Cheryl.

Sowers, Ament and Kennedy all recognized the opportunity to come together in a time of adversity and finish their season on their own terms. It was clear that student athletes of all walks of life bought into that attitude. Despite having their spring sport seasons ripped away and not having the opportunity to put on their jersey and lace up a final time, they took that energy and turned it into something that will have a lasting impact on the cancer patient population at the highest risk of complications due to the COVID-19. 

 

Christian Rega of St. John’s Men’s Lacrosse was the top individual fundraiser, bringing in a total of $1,912!

“It started small, it was me and my fellow teammate Matt Duncan who first joined. We did it as a competition to see who can run the fastest 5k. We would smack talk each other over Instagram stories about who would win the race, so more people got intrigued. We brought it up to St. John’s SAAC and they thought it was a great idea for not only lacrosse but the whole athletic department. I told my mom about the run and the (HEADstrong) Foundation and she texted all her friends about it. It started a chain reaction; I went from 200 dollars to 1700 in a week, crazy!. It was awesome to see all my teammates and fellow athletes join the cause and run.” Christian said. 

 

The top three teams who raised the most money were,

  1. St. Johns
    1. Raised $6,577
  2. RIT Lacrosse
    1. Raised $5,479
  3. Culver Lacrosse
    1. Raised $4,407

If you would like to contribute to the #LastShift2020 campaign, you still can! Please visit bit.ly/lastshift2020. 

 

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