Purple Knights News

Third Annual Fiz's Drive - Oct. 5, 2010 - 12:30-5:30 p.m. - Ross Sports Center

Third Annual Fiz's Drive
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
12:30-5:30 p.m.
Ross Sports Center - Colchester, Vt.

After two highly-successful blood drives, Saint Michael's is honored to host the Third Annual "Fiz's Drive" on Tuesday, October 25, 2010 from 12:30-5:30 p.m. at the Ross Sports Center. The inaugural Fiz's Drive, held on Oct. 21, 2008, netted 137 pints of blood on campus, and another 15 donated virtually at other locations across the country. The 137 pints collected on campus made the inaugural Fiz's Drive the most successful on-campus drive in 10 years! The Second Annual Fiz's Drive took place on Oct. 20, 2009, and raised another 124 pints of blood. Including the 152 pints raised in 2008, a total of 276 pints have blood have been donated in Fiz's memory the last two years.

The annual event honors the legacy of Mark Fizulich '97, a standout four-year member of the Saint Michael's men's basketball team and 2006 SMC Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, who lost his battle with leukemia on March 9, 2008, at age 32.  

For more information on the Third Annual Fiz's Drive and how you can help, contact Heidi St. Peter '98 in the Saint Michael's Mobilization Of Volunteer Efforts (MOVE) office at 802.654.2674 or hstpeter2@smcvt.edu, or Dave Carmichael at the Northern Vermont chapter of the American Red Cross at 802.660.9130 For information on the inaugural Fiz's Drive, including video of the jersey retirement ceremony, pictures, Mark's biography, his Hall of Fame ceremony, and much more, visit http://www.smcathletics.com/fiz.

A note from Saint Michael's Associate Athletic Director Chris Kenny

Dear Friends,

I hope this note finds you and yours doing well.  I am writing to you today to let you know that we are preparing to host the Third Annual Fiz's Drive on campus this fall.  Fiz's Drive is an annual blood drive, hosted by Saint Michael's, in honor of the memory of Mark Fizulich '97.  This year's event will take place on Tuesday, October 5, from 12:30 - 5:30 pm, here at the Ross Sports Center - a place where Mark spent a lot of time during his undergraduate years on campus. 

If you can't be here at Saint Michael's with us on the fif???th, please consider participating in Fiz's Drive virtually, by making a donation at your local Red Cross or at an affiliated blood drive in your area???.  If you participate, please let us know by e-mailing me at ckenny@smcvt.edu - be sure to let me know where and when you donated.  We will count all virtual donations in the final Fiz's Drive tally!  This event is sponsored by the College's MOVE program, Saint Michael's Athletics, and the Burlington chapter of the American Red Cross.  

Mark was a much-loved member of the Saint Michael's community, and a legendary student-athlete as a member of the Purple Knight men's basketball team.  He was enshrined in the College's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.

On March 9, 2008, Mark passed away after an epic fight with Acute Myeloid Leukemia.  He was just 32 years of age.  Throughout Mark's battle with his disease, he relentlessly ???advocated for blood and platelet donation, and for the bone marrow donor registry.  In his online journal in March of 2007, he wrote, "A great way to help blood cancer patients is to give blood, if you can...I can't tell you how many blood transfusions I've received during the last two years, but without them I would never have been able to get the therapy I needed.   So, go give blood, and know you are helping people who can't make the blood for themselves."

We hope you can participate in this meaningful event - whether it means a trip back "home" here to Saint Michael's, or by doing so in spirit wherever you happen to be.  For more information on Fiz's Drive, or on the remarkable man we knew as "Fiz," please visit our website at www.smcathletics.com, and click the button for "Fiz's Drive."

All the best to you and yours,

Chris Kenny
Associate Director of Athletics
Saint Michael's College
Colchester, VT  05439
www.smcathletics.com