The Ignite Family Game Day event takes place this Saturday in order to raise funds and awareness for children and families with cancer.
The event happens in conjunction with the Indiana Wesleyan University men’s and women’s basketball games against Saint Francis. It benefits the pediatric oncology unit at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital.
“At both halftimes, we’ll be doing a teddy bear toss,” Ian Bailey, the vice president of partnerships of the Ignite organization, said. “We will have teddy bears quote-on-quote for sale for a $5 donation. You can get a teddy bear to toss, which those teddy bears will then be donated to the hospital.”
Students primarily lead the Ignite organization, which made over $13,000 across all of last year’s events for the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital and aims to raise $15,000 this year. Anyone can donate at any time through Ignite’s website.
This event also raises awareness of the issue in addition to raising funds. Jeffrey Reyes, an associate athletic director at IWU, said that four families who have been affected by the issue will share their stories across the halftime break of both games.
This event gives IWU an opportunity to display its values as a campus. “The Ignite game for families is a great representation of how we try to engage the community,” Reyes said.
Ignite hosts multiple events throughout the school year designed for the same purpose as Game Day, some of which will also take place soon. Bailey said that a Dine to Donate event at Texas Roadhouse takes place on Thursday, a pickleball tournament takes place on Friday, and a latte art class at the McConn Coffee Company takes place after the game on Saturday.
Ignite didn’t just partner with the Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital by accident. The students looked into what the organization does and the reasons behind it.
“We loved their mission behind it and their verse, Romans 12:12,” Jessica Sanchez, the vice president of campus engagement, said. “We loved how they truly put in the heart behind it to help those kids and let them be able to enjoy being a kid, even if they’re struggling with a terminal illness or anything else that brings them to the hospital.”
Sanchez also plans to talk during halftime of both games. She said she intends to introduce Ignite as an organization, discuss its mission, and show what it’s done and what it will do over the course of the year.
Ignite will have a table outside of Luckey Arena selling merchandise to benefit the hospital and giving more information about their projects.
