Information Possibly Outdated
The information presented on this page was originally released on August 4, 2005. It may not be outdated, but please search our site for more current information. If you plan to quote or reference this information in a publication, please check with the Extension specialist or author before proceeding.
Football game benefits ill children nationwide
MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A football game earlier this year raised enough money to give seven children with life-threatening illnesses an outdoor adventure of a lifetime.
The annual Kappa Sigma Charity Classic raised $20,000 from sponsors for one football game. The game pits these Mississippi State University students against members of Sigma Chi fraternity. The winner takes home bragging rights for the year, and the charity, the national Catch-a-Dream Foundation, is able to continue providing hunting or fishing trips for ill youth.
Sigma Chi fraternity won this year's football game. This is the first year that Kappa Sigma has designated proceeds of the Charity Classic to Catch-A-Dream.
"We'd been looking for an appropriate charity to benefit from this annual event," said Jim Hunter Walsh, Kappa Sigma coordinator of this event. "Catch-A-Dream is the perfect choice, since it not only is based here at MSU, but its mission is one that Kappa Sigma and the other fraternities and sororities who help us with this event can fully embrace."
Catch-A-Dream was founded to memorialize Bruce Brady, a long-time resident of Brookhaven. The program grants once-in-a-lifetime outdoor experiences to children under the age of 18 who have life-threatening illnesses, filling the gap created when Make-A-Wish established a national policy disallowing hunting-related wishes.
The Catch-A-Dream Foundation, based at MSU, oversees all aspects of the Catch-A-Dream program through a partnership between the MSU Extension Service, the Mississippi Wildlife Federation and the Bruce Brady family.
Marty Brunson, Catch-A-Dream program chairman, said the program gives children a unique opportunity to divert their minds from the many physical pressures they face.
"These children are given a reason to look at life differently," Brunson said.
Brunson said he is excited that Kappa Sigma and their partners among the MSU Greek organizations have caught the vision and have drawn alongside Catch-A-Dream.
"MSU is a perfect home for us, providing unprecedented opportunities for partnerships like this one with Kappa Sigma," Brunson said.
