All of the money raised from our wristband sales goes to our charity partner, “The Pat Boland Memorial Internship Fund”. The Boland Fund, run by the Penn State Bellisario College of Communications, provides deserving communications students with financial assistance toward their living expenses as they serve internships at various media outlets around the country. This internships are often unpaid which can put a significant financial burden on the students.
Pat was a longtime State College broadcast journalist and personality. He died in July of 2011 after a protracted battle with cancer. During his broadcast career Pat was particularly know as being the voice of many Penn State and State College sports teams, including soccer, baseball, and volleyball. Outside the sports arena, he was a program director for Forever Broadcasting and a cohost of WRSC morning programs with Kevin Nelson.
Gary Sinderson, current radio host on the Morning Guys radio show on WRSC State College and who helped found the scholarship fund in Pat’s name, recently remarked “Pat was a wonderful person, He worked hard, was well respected, and did a lot of multitasking, covering news and sports. It wasn’t unusual for Pat to put in a full day on the newsbeat and then cover a Penn State sporting event in the evening or on weekends.”
More info on Pat can be found in the following articles:
“For A Good Clause” Town & Gown December 2015
“Remembering: Pat Boland was a familiar voice for Penn State football fans” PennLive August 2011
“Broadcaster Boland Remembered for Unfailing Fairness, Sharp Humor” StateCollege.com June 2011
The Santa Crawl is the largest annual donor to the Pat Boland Fund. Over the years we have raised $60,000 for the fund A dozen Bellisario College of Communication students have been beneficiaries of a Boland Award.