SUNY Oswego - Alumni Association - November E-Newsletter

November 2010 • Vol 6 No 8

Volleyball Squad, Colleges Against Cancer, Team Up

The SUNY Oswego volleyball team, in conjunction with the campus chapter of Colleges Against Cancer, hosted a “Dig Pink” fundraiser at their Oct. 19 game, with the Lakers raising more than $1,100 for the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

Dig Pink is a nationwide initiative sponsored by the Side-Out Foundation. The foundation was established in 2004 to unite volleyball players and coaches and to have them work toward the common goal of furthering breast cancer awareness, education and patient services.

For volleyball head coach Pat Hanlon and her squad, the decision to bring Dig Pink to Oswego was one that the entire team could rally around.

“For us it was personal,” Hanlon said. “We have family members of players affected by cancer. It felt good to be able to grab the bull by the horns and do our part to help out.”

The term side-out refers to a situation in volleyball when one team wins a point while its opponent is serving, thereby regaining control of play.

The foundation hopes that their side-out attempt will do the same for breast cancer patients, providing them with the support, education and best available treatments to regain control of their lives.

The Lakers ended up beating SUNYIT, but at least for one night, the outcome of the game was overshadowed by something much more meaningful, Hanlon said.

“Win or lose, we are doing something great.”

— Kyle C. Gargan '11

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Oswego Alumni Association, Inc. • King Alumni Hall - SUNY Oswego • Oswego, NY 13126
315-312-2258 • 315-312-5570 (fax) • E-mail: alumni@oswego.edu • Web site: oswego.edu/alumni

Who doesn’t want to save the world? Michael Kite ’02 does that for a living through World Wildlife Fund.

As marketing specialist for one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, Kite and his team of three work to raise more than $5 million each year. The majority of that money comes from licensing partnerships and promotions with the likes of Barnes & Noble, Gap, Hewlett-Packard, Dial and Coinstar.

Retail partnerships help WWF spread its message to the general public and raise funds for its conservation work around the globe. For example, Bank of America contributes $100 for every special Visa account opened and Nabisco is supporting WWF’s “Year of the Tiger” initiative with special packaging and a $100,000 donation. The new CVS Green Bag Tag program rewards reusable bag-toting customers, and generates five cents for WWF for each tag sold.

All support WWF’s mission of protecting the future of nature, down to the finest details, Kite said.

“We like to see that the product is made from recycled material and is recyclable itself, and somehow ties into our mission,” Kite said. The Green Bag Tag, for instance, is made from a corn-based material and features a 100 percent recycled silicone lanyard.

As a broadcasting major at Oswego, Kite got involved with WRVO-FM and WNYO-FM.

“I think it gave me a lot more confidence in talking to people,” he said. It was an important part of his early career in broadcast sales and remains an important piece in the message he “sells” today.

“The best part of my job is seeing a product in the store with the WWF logo after months of working with a company to launch it,” said Kite, who joined the organization in 2006. “It’s rewarding to give people a fun, unique way to protect our planet.”

— Shane M. Liebler