University Park, IL–(ENEWSPF)– For the second straight year, Governors State University students, all members of the Physical Therapy Student Association (PTSA), took part in the Marquette Challenge. The GSU team raised $3,000, three times as much it collected last year.
Since 1989, physical therapy students at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, have challenged students from other PT programs across the nation to raise funds for the American Physical Therapy Association’s Foundation for Physical Therapy. The foundation raises money to help fund research grants for the development of effective physical therapy interventions.
Each year approximately 45 schools participate in the Marquette Challenge. Since the inception of the program, students have raised more than $1.3 million dollars for the foundation.
Heading up this year’s GSU team was Kristy Ton, physical therapy student and outgoing PTSA President. “It was very much a whole team effort,” Ton noted. “It took a lot of time to write all the papers and research all the quiz questions. The faculty members were all very excited and supportive of this activity.”
For their fundraising venture, Ton and nearly 20 other GSU PTSA members sponsored bake sales but also researched and wrote an independent home-study package of functional and balance tests, complete with quizzes. The Education and Training Center, a division of Rehab Connections in Homer Glen, purchased the student’s self-study materials and plans to use them at seminars and other educational events. The Education and Training Center provides continuing education for rehab professionals in the area.
GSU’s PT students raised approximately two-thirds of this year’s donation through the sale of the self-study materials.
Additional funds raised by the PTSA were used for student tuition grants. The funds also helped 19 students attend the American Physical Therapy Association national conference last February in San Diego, CA.
