SPM Club receives national Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy award

The Sport Management (SPM) Club at Syracuse University is a recipient of the 2015 Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award by the Association of Fundraising Professionals of Central New York’s Board of Directors and the Chapter’s National Philanthropy Day Committee.

The Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award is given to an outstanding youth individual or group with a commitment to philanthropy, and giving back to their community through leadership that is effective, creative and stimulating. The committee noted that the SU Club is receiving the award “because of your efforts on behalf of causes that are important to you.”

The Sport Management Club was honored at a luncheon at the Sheraton University Hotel in Syracuse on November 16, 2015, which was also National Philanthropy Day.

“The extraordinary effort by our students to use sports as a platform to promote social responsibility in the greater Syracuse community is a crowning accomplishment,” said Michael Veley, director and chair of the Department of Sport Management at Syracuse University. “To be recognized for this honor on National Philanthropy Day is a testament to tireless effort, ingenuity and leadership of students over the past decade to make the Charity Sports Auction a landmark event.”

Students in the SPM Club participate in numerous events over the course of the academic year, with its highlight being the annual Sports Auction. The Club’s 11th Annual Charity Sports Auction will be held December 2, 2015, at the Carrier Dome on the SU campus. Silent bidding on hundreds of auction items, including sports memorabilia, hands-on experiences, electronics, and tickets to major sporting events, will take place in the backcourt during the SU men’s basketball game against University of Wisconsin. Doors will open for the auction at 5:15 p.m. Game time is 7:15 p.m. All of the proceeds from this year’s auction will benefit the Salvation Army Syracuse Area Services.

The Salvation Army has been providing support to the residents of the Onondaga community since 1883 and serves more than 41,000 Onondaga County residents each year, including children and families, youth, adults, and seniors.

The SPM Club is a student-run organization in the Falk College’s Sport Management Department. Since its founding in 2005, the SPM Club has raised more than $270,000 for local charities, including the Food Bank of Central New York, Boys & Girls Clubs, American Diabetes Association, Golisano Children’s Hospital at Upstate, the Ronald McDonald House Charities of CNY, the Central New York SPCA, the Upstate Cancer Center, and most recently, Make-a-Wish Central New York, which received $59,185 from the 2014 auction.