2011 Rare Disease Champion Award

**Please visit this page again on February 1st to vote for the 2012 Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion.  The stories of the finalists will appear then. **

Uplifting Athletes is proud to announce the 2011 Uplfting Athletes Rare Disease Champion --  Princeton's Jordan Culbreath!  The award is given to a leader in college football, individual or organization, who has realized his or her potential to make a positive and lasting impact on the rare disease community. Uplifting Athletes believes the accomplishments of all five finalists are admirable. The stories of adversity and triumph were not only inspiring to us as an organization, but also to the communities in which these leaders reside.

Click on the links below to read the inspiring stories of the 2011 finalists.

Dana Bible NC State

Derrick Coleman UCLA

Jordan Culbreath Princeton

Jerry Kill Minnesota

Scott Tolzien Wisconsin

Thanks for taking time to read the stories of all five finalists.  Uplifting Athletes believes they are all destined for success.

Past Winners

• Dickinson College's Ian Mitchell was named the 2010 Rare Disease Champion. Mitchell raised more than $95,000 in his collegiate career in honor of a childhood friend who passed away from a rare form of bone cancer. More than 20,000 votes were cast; Mitchell amassed 8562 votes or more than 41% of the votes.
• The 2009 recipient was Grant Taeff of the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA), selected for its nation-wide effort to raise awareness about Duchenne Muscular Distrophy through their one-day event "Coach to Cure MD", which raised more than $230,000 in 2008.