Morgantown Students Raise Over $10,000 to Provide 167 ‘Brave Gowns’ for Local Children’s Hospital

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Nearly 1,200 students from Mylan Park Elementary and Cheat Lake

Elementary raised a total of $10,299.01 to benefit the Brave Gowns program at WVU Medicine Golisano Children's Hospital this spring. The funds, raised through the high-energy "Get Moving! Quarterback Challenge" coin fundraiser, will provide 167 high-quality, colorful Brave Gowns to replace standard hospital attire for pediatric patients.

The week-long campaigns—held March 23–27 at Mylan Park and April 7–10 at Cheat Lake—engaged students in a friendly competition to collect quarters. Students tracked their daily progress on hallway scoreboards, fostering a sense of community and philanthropic spirit. Mylan Park students raised $5,120.49, led by the pre-K classes, while Cheat Lake students contributed $5,178.52, with the fifth grade taking the top prize.

To celebrate these achievements, members of the WVU Club Baseball team made special appearances at both schools. The athletes met with the winning grade levels to congratulate the students on their success, bridging the gap between university athletics and local youth through a shared mission of community service.

"Our common goal is the Brave Gowns—that's what we made it about," said Tami Brown, a fifth-grade teacher at Mylan Park Elementary. "It was more about the Brave Gowns than the money."

The Quarterback Challenge was developed and executed by a student team from the West Virginia University Reed School of Media, consisting of Nick Grover, Joey Allinger, Alexandra Fohring, and Sara Martel. Working under the supervision of Dr. Elizabeth Oppe and in partnership with Get Moving, Inc., the team successfully revitalized the initiative. The Quarterback Challenge was originally established by the Hoss Foundation and continues to rely entirely on community donations to support its mission.

The success of this year’s campaign serves as a foundation for future expansion. Get Moving! Inc. plans to introduce the Quarterback Challenge to additional schools within Monongalia County in the coming

years to increase support for young patients at WVU Medicine Golisano Children's Hospital.