Peter Mortell, sport management M.Ed. student in the School of Kinesiology and a punter on the Gopher football team, is a star both on and off the field.
Last year around the holiday season, he spent a $452 Best Buy gift card he had received as a Citrus Bowl participant on gifts for the St. Joseph’s Home for Children. This year, he set his sights a little higher. Through a crowdfunded campaign called “A Very Specialist Christmas,” he aimed to raise $25,000 for the University of Minnesota Masonic Children’s Hospital. Mortell wants to make sure teenagers who must stay in the hospital over the holidays are not forgotten.
“Many times, people generously donate gifts for younger kids and children,” he says on his website. “As amazing as this is, often the demographic of teenage patients gets overlooked — but not this year. My goal is to raise money so that we can purchase gifts that not only current patients at the hospital can use, but future patients as well.”
Mortell originally intended to raise $10,000, but after reaching that in just 12 hours, he decided to set the bar higher. He exceeded his goal of $25,000 last week, raising over $27,000 for the cause. He received $1,000 apiece from U of M President Eric Kaler, former football coach Jerry Kill, and former football captain Jim Carter. A man he’s never met donated $5,000. The goal was reached with many smaller donations, too — some gave just $5. Mortell is currently searching for a corporate sponsor to match the donation.
Learn more about Peter Mortell and “A Very Specialist Christmas” here.
