Virtual event propels UNG to top spot in Make-A-Wish fundraising

For the 11th straight year, the University of North Georgia (UNG) Department of Athletics has received the Peach Belt Conference's (PBC) LeeAnn Noble Make-A-Wish Award for most funds raised.

The 2019-20 total of $13,800 total means the Nighthawks have hit the five-digit mark in giving for 10 years in a row and remain the only PBC school to do so. Nigel's Run with Superheroes, converted to #NIGELSVIRTUALWALK, raised almost $5,200 to help UNG clear its goal of $10,000 for the year.

"The execution of this event is a bright spot for us not only because it allowed us to pass the donation threshold to host another on-campus wish, but it showed the true resolve of the Nighthawk Nation," said Lindsay Reeves, UNG director of athletics. "The current unique landscape that we are all facing was not going to stop our student-athletes from taking the Make-A-Wish initiative to the finish line."

UNG has finished in the top five in NCAA Division II Make-A-Wish giving for nine years in a row and led the country on seven occasions, including the past four times. The national leaders for 2019-20 will be announced in the fall.

UNG also hosted its eighth Make-A-Wish reveal when the women's soccer team welcomed Luke England as an honorary captain in October.

The PBC Make-A-Wish awards were renamed the LeeAnn Noble Make-A-Wish Awards following the 2013-14 season. Noble was a women's golfer at UNG and former wish recipient from Make-A-Wish. She appeared on the cover of NCAA Champion Magazine in the fall of 2013 and died in March 2014.