Club’s Turkey Trot Raises Funds for Pediatric Cancer Research

Members of Pinky Swear PACK exceeded their goal by $2,000

Students in Sacred Heart University’s Pinky Swear PACK raised $8,027 for children’s cancer research during SHU’s second annual Turkey Trot. That exceeds last year’s total by nearly $3,000.

The club is affiliated with the Pinky Swear Foundation, which provides financial and emotional support to children who have cancer, as well as their families. Its name derives from a “pinky swear” promise one of the co-founders made with his 9-year-old before the boy died from cancer, pledging to always help children who have the disease.

SHU student Patrick Lurgio ’23, acting president of the Pinky Swear PACK on campus, said that in the weeks before the Turkey Trot, club members helped with advertisements, recruitment of participants and outreach to local businesses for prize donations. “We spent hours organizing, planning and advertising to the greater SHU community to get the word out,” Lurgio said.

Pinky Swear PACK members set out to raise $2,500 this year. After generating that amount relatively quickly, they increased the goal to $6,000 and were thrilled when they surpassed it by $2,000 by the event’s end. The final total came about because of 191 donors, 44 student participants, 19 other volunteers raised $100 or more, and the highest amount raised by a single participant was $2,231.  

“Last year, Pinky Swear PACK organized this event, and it was so successful that the club members wanted to make it an annual one. This year, they exceeded not only last year’s amount, but their initial goal as well―and not just once, but multiple times,” said Amanda Wagner, Pinky Swear PACK adviser. “This selfless group of leaders did an amazing job to create a safe and virtual space for folks to raise funds and awareness for pediatric cancer. I’m proud to be their adviser.”

“We couldn’t have done this without our donors and participants’ efforts, and definitely not without the efforts of our PACK and e-board,” Lurgio said.

Pictured: Members of SHU's Pinky Swear PACK