LAKEWOOD, NJ- The first step to success in anything is believing that the impossible is possible. The Georgian Court University Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC), made up of GCU student-athletes that follow this mindset everyday in competition and in the classroom, took it a step further by creating a $2,022 donation for the Make-A-Wish Foundation through Macy's 5th Annual "Believe" Campaign.

Each year, children are invited to write letters to Santa Claus and drop them in Santa's Mailbox at their local Macy's Department Store. For every letter written and delivered to Macy's (until December 24), the store will donate $1 per letter to Make-A-Wish. On National Believe Day (December 14 this year), Macy's doubles its donation to $2 per letter.

Spearheaded by senior lacrosse player and SAAC Vice President, Olivia Rotunno, Georgian Court established a goal of collecting 1,000 letters to Santa from the GCU community. Rotunno and her fellow SAAC members actually exceeded its goal and successfully collected and delivered 1,011 letters to Macy's at the Freehold Raceway Mall (Freehold, N.J.) this past Friday, which provides an indirect donation of $2,022 to Make-A-Wish.

"Writing a letter to Santa is a simple task that has a greater reward," said Rotunno, who interned at the Make-A-Wish Foundation New Jersey Chapter in Monroe, N.J. during the fall semester. "It was a pleasure to see all of the (GCU) students excited about wanting to be a part of this."

A major part of her internship was to bring awareness about the "Believe" Campaign to the campus of Georgian Court. Olivia first wanted to involve just the athletic teams, but decided to challenge herself and include the entire campus. Letter-writing stations were coordinated in various buildings and included with other events taking place at GCU. Other university clubs and organizations also assisted SAAC with its cause and provided letters.

"After delivering the letters I was like a little girl on Christmas morning; I couldn't stop smiling," stated Olivia. "It warms my heart to know my classmates 'believe' as much as I do."

The mission of Make-A-Wish is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.

"I am proud to be a representative of Make-A-Wish and GCU. I hope this will be an activity that students continue for years to come."