The St. Thomas football team holds the record for most money raised for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital out of any collegiate team.

In the past five years, Tommie football has raised more than $150,000 for St. Jude. This year, the team raised $40,003 as of Dec. 30.

The football team puts on one event every year to raise the money. The team gathers in the Anderson Athletic and Recreation Center’s field house each October for the annual No More Cancer Rally.

A representative from St. Jude and the university’s St. Jude executive team comes and talks to the team about the fundraiser.

“We set up emails and accounts and ask parents, email former coaches, friends and family– anyone. We will send texts and emails to try to raise money,” junior defensive linemen Alex Panos said.

The team found the event to be successful, and they set a higher goal each year for money raised.

The team goal was $40,000 this year and they hit their goal Dec. 9 and are the top athletic team in the Minneapolis Region, meaning they have raised the most funds out of all the athletic teams in the region. The region includes Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota.

Since the football team is successful at raising money for St. Jude, five team members attend the St. Jude collegiate leadership seminar in Memphis in the summer.

“That seminar is a time for all of our collegiate events to gather and share ideas and to learn leadership skills and to be reinspired about the St. Jude mission. They get to tour the hospital, they get to hear from our CEO, they get to hear from other leadership people from around the nation,” said Kelly McKimmins, the St. Thomas representative for St. Jude.

The university’s goal was to raise $115,000, which was significantly higher than last year’s goal.

“$115,000 was the goal and we came up very short,” Lindsey Sandison, co-president of the St. Jude at St. Thomas executive board said. “We set that goal knowing we weren’t going to hit it.”

St. Thomas raised $86,995 as of Dec. 30. The fundraiser starts at the beginning of the school year and winds down around at the end of the fall semester.

This is the 19th year St. Thomas has been raising money for St. Jude, McKimmins said.

This year, 350 people participated and more than 10 clubs joined.

People can still donate to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which helps children and families battling childhood cancer.

Rae Beaner can be reached at rnbeaner696@stkate.edu.