Penn State Football to Host 23rd Lift For Life Event in July

Penn State's annual Lift For Life fundraising event will be open to the public this year for the first time since 2024. The Nittany Lions will host Lift For Life on July 1 at the practice fields outside the Lasch Football Building in State College.

The 23rd annual Lift For Life is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., following the theme of Penn State coach Matt Campbell's early approach to practice. The event will feature Penn State's offense competing against the defense in a series of competitions to raise money and awareness for rare disease research.

This year's Penn State team has set a fundraising goal of $25,000 for Lift For Life. Donations can be made here.

Suggested donations are $10 for adults and $5 for kids, with proceeds going toward Penn State's chapter of Uplifting Athletes. Penn State football players will hold a 15-minute autograph session following the event.

Lift for Life 💪

🗓️ July 1
⏰ 9 AM
📍Lasch Practice Fields
🔗 https://t.co/s3nYTVwKpF pic.twitter.com/sAX3qfy0KJ
— Penn State Football (@PennStateFball) June 23, 2026

Lift For Life traces its roots to the 2003, when receiver Scott Shirley played for the Nittany Lions. Shirley's father Don had been diagnosed the previous year with kidney cancer, and the Penn State football team organized a fundraiser to help.

Shirley and teammates Dave Costlow and Damone Jones organized the first Lift For Life event as a weightlifting competition at Holuba Hall. It raised about $15,000 and was the seedling for the nonprofit now known as Uplifting Athletes.

In 2004, Shirley incorporated Uplifting Athletes and became its executive director in 2007. He initially chartered affiliate programs at five universities where athlete ran their own fundraisers to benefit research for various rare diseases.

Former Penn State wide receiver Brett Brackett serves as president of Uplifting Athletes, and Shirley now is a board member. According to the Uplifting Athletes website, one in 10 Americans is diagnosed with a rare disease, and more than 10,000 rare diseases affect more than 30 million people.

Penn State will host Lift For Life for the first time under head coach Matt Campbell, who has made service a priority of his culture-building program. In February at the annual Penn State THON fundraiser, Campbel told players that he would match whatever money they raised for pediatric cancer research.

“We’re taking it so seriously this year,” Penn State offensive lineman Cooper Cousins said of the team's philanthropic initiatives. “... It’s huge, but it’s something special that not a lot of other places have, and I’m thankful that I’ve got to be a part of it over these past couple years.”

When we combine Uplifting Experiences with Lift for Life events, rare disease families get more than a game; they get a room full of people who showed up for them. And the athletes? They get a first hand reminder of why it all matters.

This is what community looks like. pic.twitter.com/fbWQE0TL0R
— Uplifting Athletes (@UpliftingAth) June 5, 2026

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