San Francisco, CA -- The Urban Knights continued their summer of service with a very fitting event last week, partnering with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Youth Professional Advisory Council (YPAC) to help host an exhibit called the "Art Of The Wish." The Make-A-Wish Foundation, which is well known as a partner of the Academy of Art and the NCAA, encourages their participants in the wish-granting program to create "Wish Art," which they describe as "colorful drawings that represent the dreams, aspirations and ideas behind their chosen wish."

“The ART U Urban Knights were excited to partner and assist in the Art of the Wish event, hosted by the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation's YPAC," said Assistant Athletic Director and Director of Student-Athlete Development Meghan Bushnell. "I'm grateful and impressed that we had over 10 volunteers to help give back during the summer off season; the ART U Urban Knights are true servant leaders to our community. Our goal is to gain a strong partnership with the Greater Bay Area Make-A-Wish Foundation and help assist in events such as Art of the Wish along with their various art focused events with the Wish Kids. We look forward to inviting the Greater Bay Area Wish Kids to our campus and future athletic games.”

Bushnell was joined by four coaches and five athletes representing six different Urban Knights sports. The Knights set up the event, organizing auction items, helping to hang the art, managing the audio and video, and assisting in registration. Once set up, more Urban Knights came in and helped as door greeters, assisted with the auction items, and cleaned up after the event as well.

"I thought it was a really nice event," said head volleyball coach Ed Jackson. "The idea of making someone's dream come true is an amazing thing and really special. I hope our program can continue to work with them in the future."

The event, which was held at the 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco, was open to the public, and featured imaginative artwork created by wish children, festive music and bidding on silent auction items such as a Wine Country getaway, tickets to Bay Area sporting events and sports memorabilia, wine, and the art itself.  In 2003 the NCAA Division II established a national alliance with the Make-A-Wish Foundation®, a global charity that grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.