The annual Blue & White Game will start at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 23, in Drake Stadium, 2719 Forest Ave. Fans in attendance will have the opportunity
to make donations to help fund the service projects the Bulldogs’ players and
coaches will undertake on their trip to Africa next month for the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl.
Drake’s spring game
concludes the team’s 15-practice spring session, and will run approximately 90
minutes. The concessions offerings include a postgame barbecue.
Following the Kilimanjaro Bowl on May 21, the student-athletes will spend three days volunteering in rural Tanzanian villages. The service projects, coordinated by Iowa Resource for International Service (IRIS), an Ames-based nonprofit, include building construction and repairs to orphanages and schools in the area.
More than $22,000 has been raised so far towards a goal of $30,000 to cover building materials (concrete blocks, mortar, lumber), classroom repair materials (wall plaster, paint and painting supplies) and landscaping materials (trees and other plants) for these important volunteer projects.
In a final push to raise the remaining funds for these projects, Drake University Director of Community Outreach, Dolph Pulliam and Drake student volunteers will be energizing the crowd during the Spring Game and encouraging Drake fans to demonstrate their ability to give to a great cause. Anyone who is not able to attend the game, but would like to contribute to the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl volunteer projects can do so online at www.iris-center.org/KiliBowl.html
In addition, the children of Drake Athletic Director Sandy Hatfield Clubb have launched their own fundraiser for the service projects in Tanzania. They’re collecting spare change from their friends, neighbors and classmates at Holy Trinity Catholic School. Tristan, 12, and Skyelar, 9, have set a goal of raising $2,000 through their “Small Change for a Big Change” project. They initiated the fundraiser in partnership with Sioux City resident Josh Meyer, 9, the son of Dr. Steve Meyer, medical director for the Kilimanjaro Bowl.
Youth from three countries work together in Tanzania
The volunteer projects coordinated by Iowa Resource for International Service (IRIS) will connect the Drake and CONADEIP student-athletes with alumni from IRIS’s Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program in Tanzania.
Since 2007, more than 70 high school students have lived and studied in Iowa through IRIS and the YES Program. The service projects for the Global Kilimanjaro Bowl were developed from the alumni efforts already being undertaken in the area, and the youth from all three countries will work together to complete them.
IRIS is a nonprofit, non-religious organization founded in 1993. Its mission is to promote international understanding, development and peace. Through several grant programs, IRIS brings students, journalists, business people, educators and government leaders to Iowa from around the world. For more information, or to support IRIS, visit www.iris-center.org.