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PSU and Charity Are So Closely Tied, One's Fate Affects the Other

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PSU and Charity Are So Closely Tied, One's Fate Affects the Other 7 NOVEMBER 17, 2011 The Patriot-News Then-Gov. Tom Ridge, right, and Joe Paterno attend a Penn State fundraiser called The Second Mile with Kerry Collins in 1997. Over the years, Penn State strengthened its brand through Second Mile programs and events. A SPECIAL REPORT: THE SECOND MILE AND PENN STATE One big family PSU and charity are so closely tied, one’s fate affects the other BY DONALD GILLILAND, JEFF FRANTZ AND SARA GANIM l The Patriot-News he Penn State Nittany Lion torney general’s investigation is now mascot wore a Second Mile looking at what The Second Mile did T-shirt. — or didn’t do. There’s no more striking The Second Mile and Penn State image of the bond that ex- were locked in an embrace so tight istedT between the university and the that the fate of one inevitably impacts kid’s charity founded by Jerry San- the other. dusky. The charity basked in the impri- The charity was one of President matur of Penn State. Sandusky ran it George H. W. Bush’s “Thousand at the same time he was the Nittany Points of Light.” Now its founder faces Lions’ greatest defensive coach. Joe massive charges of child sexual abuse Paterno served as master of ceremo- in a scandal that decimated the lead- nies at its biggest fundraiser. Penn ership and reputation of Penn State. State players helped with fundraising. Gov. Tom Corbett has said the at- When Sandusky announced his PULITZER PRIZE ENTRY: LOCAL REPORTING JERRY SANDUSKY AND PENN STATE | PAGE 31 ONE BIG FAMILY NOVEMBER 17, 2011 The Second Mile distributed Penn State football cards in hundreds of Pennsylvania school districts. retirement in 1999, saying he wanted players on inspirational sports cards it to spend more time with The Second distributed to children in 421 of Penn- Mile, Paterno called him “a person of sylvania’s 500 school districts. great character and integrity.” That’s It was great public relations for Penn all the validation many people needed. State’s athletic program. More than 1 At that time, The Second Mile had million sets of cards were distributed. an annual budget of $894,000 and Teachers and school counselors used just more than $1 million in the bank. them as rewards for good behavior. It now has an annual budget of $2.4 One school counselor told The Sec- million and almost $9 million in the ond Mile in 2007: “The students know bank. when new cards should be arriving At a university that makes a produc- and ask for them. Some of the kids tion of inducting graduates into the will do special things to gain cards for alumni “family,” those who wanted to their collection.” be philanthropic turned easily to The Penn State’s Prevention Research Second Mile. It was seen as a Penn Center partnered with The Second State “family” business. Mile to study the effectiveness of its Nearly all the top employees at the programs. The center’s director, Mark charity had Penn State degrees. Greenberg, recently joined the char- The son of Penn State’s board chair- ity’s board of directors. man served on The Second Mile’s board. More than three-quarters of Big donors the current Second Mile board are The Second Mile board has close — Penn State alumni. and very lucrative — ties to the uni- Penn State students served as in- versity. terns at The Second Mile, soliciting Dorothy “Dottie” Huck and her donations from local businesses for husband, Lloyd, are big Penn State charity events, and received univer- donors. In total, the Hucks have given sity course credit for doing so. the university more than $20 million. Penn State football players volun- Lloyd Huck, a former chairman of teered for The Second Mile. And the board at Merck, sits on the Penn The Second Mile featured Penn State State board of trustees. Dottie Huck PULITZER PRIZE ENTRY: LOCAL REPORTING JERRY SANDUSKY AND PENN STATE | PAGE 32 ONE BIG FAMILY NOVEMBER 17, 2011 sits on the board of The Second Mile. In the last five years, the Hucks gave more than $21,000 to The Second Mile, and Merck gave at least another $8,000. “I think the function of The Second Mile has been good for many, many children,” Lloyd Huck told The Patri- ot-News on Tuesday. “We think the organization, which doesn’t include Jerry Sandusky, is still doing very much good.” Huck noted that his wife works with the kids as well as serving on the board. “We think the money we contrib- uted has gone to a good cause, and we don’t regret giving it,” he said. Huck pushed back against the idea that the two organizations were tied. “As a trustee at Penn State, I am not aware of any close working relation- ship,” he said. Obviously, he said, the university community provided many volunteers to the charity. And he admitted that the two did benefit by sharing a mutu- ally good reputation. Going forward, Huck said, “We just have to wait and see as things de- velop. ... There’s an awful lot of things directing fundraising and alumni de- we don’t know.” velopment for Penn State’s College of The late William A. Schreyer, for- Liberal Arts. mer CEO of Merrill Lynch and former People such as the Hucks and the chairman of Penn State’s board of Schreyers were donating to The trustees, gave more than $58 million Second Mile “long before I got there,” to the university. Schreyer’s daughter, Marshall said Tuesday. “I in no way DrueAnne, has served on The Second brought donors with me.” Mile board of directors since at least She has been employed full-time as 1997. vice president of development for The In the last five years, The Schreyer Second Mile since 2008. Foundation and DrueAnne have “The process of cultivating and donated more than $224,000 to The stewarding donors is certainly one I Second Mile. brought and probably upgraded,” Mar- Attempts to contact DrueAnne were shall said. unsuccessful. While at Penn State, her fundraising Similar donor connections between was focused entirely on big donors. the charity and the university are She knew how to keep the connec- numerous, and that’s no coincidence. tions open and the conversation flow- Sandusky cultivated the connection. ing. And since 2006, Bonnie Marshall But when Marshall moved to The has helped The Second Mile with its Second Mile, she said, it was more fundraising. Before working with The than that. Second Mile, Marshall spent 10 years “It was back to small shop fund- PULITZER PRIZE ENTRY: LOCAL REPORTING JERRY SANDUSKY AND PENN STATE | PAGE 33 ONE BIG FAMILY NOVEMBER 17, 2011 The Patriot-News At-risk kids swim at a Second Mile Summer Challenge Camp in Berks County in 1998. The Second Mile raised about $17 million between 2002 and late 2008, when new charges surfaced and Jerry Sandusky stepped away from the charity’s programs. raising,” she said, like she’d done in “If Jerry or The Second Mile call, the years before Penn State: hosting we’re going to come,” he said. events, an annual appeal, applying to People paid to eat dinner and lis- foundations and corporations. ten to football legends. When those The Second Mile “certainly has a legends took the podium, they paid much wider donor base than just Penn homage to Sandusky and The Second State,” Marshall said. Mile. But Penn State alumni were criti- Former NFL player and ESPN com- cally important to the charity, partic- mentator Jon Ritchie, who did not ularly the football alumni. Sandusky attend Penn State but knew Sandusky coached 10 All-America linebackers, well, said he would go to Second Mile giving Penn State the nickname “Line- benefits and speak. “Every time I was backer U.” up there, I was just pouring out the The theme of The Second Mile’s an- way that I felt about Jerry,” Ritchie nual “Celebration of Excellence” fund- said recently on ESPN. “My reality raiser four years ago was “A Salute to was that Jerry Sandusky was Mother Linebacker U.” Teresa.” But sometimes it was difficult to Ritchie was not alone. tell who was saluting whom. “Sev- In 2004, Sandusky took the pulpit eral generations of former Penn State during Sunday morning service at linebacking greats” were there to raise Grace United Methodist Church in money for Sandusky’s charity. Hummelstown and told the congrega- John Skorupan, who played from tion: “My parents reached out to peo- 1970 to 1972, told The Patriot-News: “I ple who were handicapped or rejected think all of us would do anything for by society and made them feel special. Jerry. He’s been an important part of ... I wanted to do the same.” Congre- our lives, in growing up and maturing gation members said they found him and through our NFL careers.” inspirational. PULITZER PRIZE ENTRY: LOCAL REPORTING JERRY SANDUSKY AND PENN STATE | PAGE 34 ONE BIG FAMILY NOVEMBER 17, 2011 DAN GLEITER, The Patriot-News Second Mile offices are on Rosemont Avenue in Lower Allen Twp. Penn State University donated money to the charity last year, as did the Penn State Altoona Campus and the Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. A celebrity aura to The Second Mile every year since For members of the Penn State “fam- 2005. ily,” the roles of coach, father figure Former NFL head coach Dick Ver- and icon were not always distinguish- meil was master of ceremonies for the able. charity’s Celebration of Excellence “When I first retired from profes- fundraiser in 2000.
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