An anonymous donor has sparked a fundraising challenge to pay for the resurfacing of the Marywood Athletics turf field.

In a video posted online, Marywood President Sr. Mary Persico, IHM, Ed. D, explained that an anonymous donor has promised to donate $300,000 if the university can match that number by the end of the year.

“This field has had a lot of wear and tear and we’ve had to replace it because we wanted to keep our student athletes safe,” Persico said in the video.

Dr. Mary Jo Gunning, director of Athletics and Recreation, explained that the university needed to resurface the turf field for the safety of the athletes.

“We didn’t have a choice,” Gunning said. “In order to continue to use [the turf field] as we do, we needed to have it resurfaced.”

The university has currently raised nearly $200,000 as stated on the Turf Field Challenge fundraising web page. 

That number makes up 65 percent of the university’s fundraising goal.

As of now, 51 donors have participated in this fundraising challenge. Current donations, according to the website, range from $25 to $50,000.

Anyone wishing to donate can do so online.

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Twitter: @JBonacciTWW