Saint Francis Athletics held a special donation press conference on Monday, Aug. 5, to present a check for $1,000 to Jakob Zernick and his Seedz 4 Needz Organization.
Zernick, a student at Central Cambria Middle School who was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease at the age of eight, founded the organization in February of 2018 in an effort to raise money to give back to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. With the money raised from selling homegrown produce, Jakob purchases toys, games and more for children battling illness.
“I’d like to thank the NEC and Saint Francis University for picking my organization,” said Zernick. “A special thanks to the Saint Francis student-athletes for their commitment in the community to help make this possible.”
The opportunity for Saint Francis to partner with Zernick and Seedz 4 Needz arose after Saint Francis Athletics was named the winner of the Northeast Conference’s Building Communities Award for the second consecutive year.
SFU student-athletes accumulated over 9,000 hours of community service over the 2018-19 academic school year, smashing the previous conference record.
With the award came a $1,000 check presented by Insperity. For Saint Francis, partnering with Zernick was an obvious choice.
“We are really excited to grow our partnership with Seeds 4 Needs,” said Sarah Ross, Assistant Director for Student-Athlete Development and Academic Services. “Our motto at Saint Francis is to ‘Become That Someone’ and Jakob and his organization certainly fit our mission. It was a no-brainer for our student-athletes to want to partner with, not only someone who is a huge Red Flash fan, but also has done so much to benefit the children at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.”
With the money raised from selling homegrown produce, Jakob purchases toys, games and more for children battling illness.
“I’d like to thank the NEC and Saint Francis University for picking my organization,” said Zernick. “A special thanks to the Saint Francis student-athletes for their commitment in the community to help make this possible.”
The opportunity for Saint Francis to partner with Zernick and Seedz 4 Needz arose after Saint Francis Athletics was named the winner of the Northeast Conference’s Building Communities Award for the second consecutive year.
SFU student-athletes accumulated over 9,000 hours of community service over the 2018-19 academic school year, smashing the previous conference record.
With the award came a $1,000 check presented by Insperity. For Saint Francis, partnering with Zernick was an obvious choice.
“We are really excited to grow our partnership with Seeds 4 Needs,” said Sarah Ross, Assistant Director for Student-Athlete Development and Academic Services. “Our motto at Saint Francis is to ‘Become That Someone’ and Jakob and his organization certainly fit our mission. It was a no-brainer for our student-athletes to want to partner with, not only someone who is a huge Red Flash fan, but also has done so much to benefit the children at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.”