Less than a week after THON raised over 12 million dollars, at the Penn State men’s basketball game against Michigan, the Nittany Lions Uplifting Athletes Chapter held a push-up challenge. The goal: invite students and fans to collectively complete 7,000 push-ups in honor of the 7,000 rare diseases that currently affect more than 30 million Americans.

In honor of Rare Disease Day, the Penn State Chapter not only broke the 7,000 push-up mark before the end of the first quarter, but also released the date of their 11th Annual Lift For Life — Friday, July 12th. The evening ended in perfect fashion for this first-year campaign. The Lion’s basketball team upset 4th ranked Michigan for its first Big Ten conference win.

The Penn State Chapter’s efforts highlight what our current 14 Chapters do every day in the fight against rare diseases. Through their hard work, more than a million dollars has been raised for rare disease research. The increased awareness surrounding an underserved population has also been monumental.

Tomorrow, Mark Herzlich and Uplifting Athletes will be presenting the 2013 Rare Disease Champion award to Eric Shrive at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Dinner in Atlantic City. This event will be aired live on ESPN 3 and begins at 6:30pm so make sure to tune-in.

The following day in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Uplifting Athletes will hold its annual Gridiron Gala – a black-tie optional, gourmet tailgate themed event in effort to white out rare diseases. Here, our supporters will honor Shrive’s success along with celebrating all of our Chapter’s efforts and unveiling our newest schools to come on board.