#CuseTixForKids: We did a thing again, gang

Once again, #CuseTixForKids was a massive success (if we do say so ourselves). We sent 300+ to the Camping World Bowl, got a shoutout during the game and made a heck of an impression on the wider Syracuse Orange Community.

We know last time we did this, we asked for some feedback from y’all. We want to do that again, but we also want to be frank about my experience behind the scenes.

• This season was different than most in that ‘Cuse became bowl eligible well before the Playoff Selection show. Given the same circumstances, I’d love to start fundraising earlier. This community seems to be behind this movement, so making a tradition and starting earlier would give us a better chance for outreach. Thanks to SU’s generosity and your support, our initial estimate of 130 shirts/meals/tickets was about ¹⁄₃ of what we could actually contribute. ‘Cuse athletics and our orgs on the ground came through, but only because the bowl was so far past the holiday season that we had time to work it.
• Is this something we want to do locally in Syracuse? It was asked of Andy several times throughout the process, and it’s a question he didn’t have an answer for. Of course we all love CNY, and want to help the Athletics department reach and provide joy for everyone. But at the same time, fundraising twice per year is a heavier lift, and how would we pick which group in CNY we work with? Which leads us to...
• Finding out orgs in Orlando was a group effort. We used friends, commenters and social media to find our three. We want to thank all of you for that, and think it’s safe to say any future Orlando trip would mean going back to these orgs. How do we feel about that?
• Finally, a huge thank you to Brett of Syraucuse Athletics and Shannon of the Camping World Bowl. These two took care of tickets, t-shirts, meals and pick-up of all those for the receipients. Without them, this simply would not have happened.

These are just some of the takeaways, and we want this to be a conversation with all of you. This is truly a community effort, so we want to hear from that community about all of this. Hopefully, with Dino signed long term, this becomes a regular occurrence so once again, THANK YOU! And G’ORANGE!