It’s time to use college athletics related spite to help out some refugees.
Hi!
The 2024 EDSBS Charity Bowl is officially underway!
Are you unfamiliar with the EDSBS Charity Bowl? It is the yearly fundraiser organized by the fine folks over at Channel 6, formerly of Moon Crew, formerly of Banner Society, formerly of Every Day Should Be Saturday. It supports New American Pathways, an organization which describes their mission as follows:
New American Pathways is an Atlanta based nonprofit with the mission of Helping Refugees and Georgia Thrive. Our vision is for new Americans in metro Atlanta to become successful, contributing, and welcomed members of Georgia’s communities. We fulfill our goals by offering the most comprehensive, fully integrated continuum of services targeted to meet the specific needs of refugees and other immigrants in Georgia.
Our services support new Americans on their individual pathways from arrival through citizenship with programs that focus on four key milestones along the pathway – Safety & Stability, Self-Sufficiency, Success, and Service. Programs work in concert to guide new Americans on their individual pathways to long-term success.
Somehow, the EDSBS Charity Bowl is the single largest fundraiser for New American Pathways, both yearly and in history. Last year, the Charity Bowl brought in over $910,000, completely blowing all expectations out of the water. Shouts to The Michigan Money Cannon, as Wolverines supporters accounted for more than $134,000 of that all on their own, more than doubling up Texas A&M in the #2 spot. Lord knows what they’re going to do now that they won a national championship in football. 2021’s success — another $800K+ event — led to the creation of the EDSBS Empowerment Fund:
We are so excited to announce the new EDSBS Empowerment Fund. Thank you @edsbs @HollyAnderson and all of the amazing donors who gave during the Charity Bowl. YOU made this possible, and we are so grateful. #CharitibundiBowl #edsbs pic.twitter.com/a66AHzfpH5
— NewAmericanPathways (@newampaths) June 21, 2021
The Charity Bowl has a very specific format, though. It’s not just a fundraiser, it’s a methodology to show exactly how great your school/football team is as opposed to other schools/football teams. The goal is to help refugees. The fun part is donating, as Spencer Hall put it in 2021, “in the form of a score of a game where your team/school destroyed the hopes and dreams of a rival.” Past that, the goal is to raise more money for New American Pathways than your rivals as well. Spite is fun, but so is beating them on the field AND in the form of charitable donations.
Now, ostensibly, this is college football related because EDSBS was a college football website. However, you may have noticed that Marquette does not have a football team at the moment. This should not stop you from donating in the name of Marquette. Last year, Marquette finished #101 in the standings at $1,067 donated, a slight retreat from MU’s top 90 finish in 2022. One of the reasons why MU was at #101 last year? Protect Trans Kids University was #5, Split Zone Duo Trans Ams was #22, Vacation Bible School was #74, University of Night Ham was #81, and Jetski Police Academy was #83. I’ve got no problem losing to a protest donation like to PTKU, but as Marquette fans, we need to be better than Recurring Jokes On The Shutdown Fullcast.
Notable schools that beat Marquette last year:
- #12 Notre Dame, $17,008
- #16 Syracuse, $11,009
- #19 Wisconsin, $9,685
- #25 Pitt, $7,992
- #64 Georgetown, $2,953
- #66 UConn, $2,743
- #70 West Virginia, $2,360
- #78 South Florida, $1,798
- #86 Villanova, $1,577
It seems important to point out that Marquette won the Big East side of the Charity Bowl in 2022 but came in fourth in 2023. Let’s improve on that, shall we?
Notable schools that Marquette beat in 2023
- #107 Rutgers, $1,005
- #108 Cincinnati, $983
- #128 Louisville, $550
- #153 Gonzaga, $367
- #183 Denver, $216
- #188 Providence, $201
- #201 Xavier, $162
- #226 DePaul, $131
- #228 Creighton, $130
- #295 Wisconsin-Platteville, $51
- #337 or #345 St. John’s, $25 or $21
Big East schools that did not even make the list of 370 outfits that registered a donation last year:
Butler and Seton Hall. Get it together, people.
Am I saying that any of these schools that did not beat Marquette or even donate at all are better and/or worse than Marquette? No! I am saying that it definitely appears that they are 1) not as nice as Marquette when it comes to works of charity or 2) obviously much poorer than Marquette since they don’t want to give money to a very respectable charity.
If the idea is to donate to New American Pathways in a fashion to celebrate that time that your team was successful against your rival, or that time your team was successful in an important game, may I suggest the following donation amounts?
- $67.65 for Justin Lewis’ tip-in against Wisconsin on December 4, 2020.
- $74.72 for Marquette upsetting #1 Villanova on January 24, 2017, men’s basketball’s first ever regular season win over a #1 ranked team
- $73.59 for Marquette’s win over #1 Kansas in the Maui Invitational this past November
- $67.59 for Marquette’s 1977 national championship victory over North Carolina.
- $19.77 for MU’s national championship year.
- $78.59 for Marquette’s victory over Notre Dame this past season.
- $19.60 to commemorate the start of Marquette’s undefeated streak in college football.
- $81.77 for Marquette’s NCAA tournament win over Colorado to put them into the Sweet 16 this season.
- $25.12 for the winning set of the volleyball team’s 2023 Big East title clinching victory over Seton Hall last fall (or even $30 for the 3-0 sweep in that match).
- $18.81 for the year that Marquette University was founded.
Or whatever floats your boat. You can get as weird with it as you want.
Here’s what you need to do to donate:
Step 1: Go to EDSBSCharityBowl.com and click Donate
Step 2: Fill out the form, including selecting Marquette in the drop down menu.
Step 3: Be sure to include the dedication if you picked a specific donation amount for a reason.
Step 4: Keep the “Cover Payment Processing Fee” box checked. You’re donating to charity, don’t make them pay the credit card fees.
Step 5: If you want, screenshot your receipt and tweet it at @AnonymousEagle, @edsbs, @HollyAnderson, and @NewAmPaths so it can be used to shame other schools help promote the Charity Bowl.
You can also text charitybowl24 to 91999 to make your donation that way if you feel so inclined.
Wondering exactly why the Charity Bowl is a thing? Spencer & Holly have an explanation for you over on Channel 6. Got a question? Check out their FAQ before firing away in the comments!
Okay, let’s get out there and beat that ranking and total from last year!