New “M GO BLUE for Mott” rally scarves add momentum to U-M C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital & Women’s Hospital fundraising campaign

ANN ARBOR, MI – Whether sports fans decide to wear it or wave it, the new “M GO BLUE for Mott” rally scarf is sure to become a staple at every University of Michigan athletic home game.

The scarves will be available at Michigan Stadium, beginning with Michigan’s first home football game on Sept. 1, when the Wolverines are set to take on Appalachian State. The scarves can purchased at MDen and local Meijer stores as well.

The 60-inch maize and blue scarves, made of acrylic, will sell for $10, with a portion of the proceeds going to the U-M C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital fund-raising campaign. Construction is now under way for the $523 million facility, set to open in 2011.

While the new scarves will keep fans warm during the fall and winter athletic seasons, football head coach Lloyd Carr, ice hockey coach Red Berenson and men’s basketball coach John Beilein are also looking forward to seeing them waving in the stands at home games. The coaches hope fans will join the members of the Michigan Marching Band – who plan to waive their rally scarves at all home football games – in showing their Wolverine spirit and support for Mott.

"The students and staff of the Michigan Marching Band are excited to wave our scarves on game days in support of C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospitals! We’re glad to help!” says Scott Boerma, director of the MMB.

The three U-M coaches and their teams, along with the Michigan Marching Band, are joining together to help promote the rally scarves.

“I’m thrilled to be supporting Mott Children’s Hospital and hope that our fans will wave their scarves for both Mott and Michigan Basketball,” says Beilein.

Adds Berenson: “I am honored to be involved with the latest wave of support for Mott Children’s Hospital"

To those who help support the children’s and women’s campaign by purchasing a rally scarf, Carr, co-chair for the fund-raising campaign, says, ”Thank you for joining the Mott Team. Go Mott! Go Blue!”

The rally scarves mark yet another partnership between the U-M Athletic Department and U-M Health System to support the campaign to build a new children’s hospital and women’s hospital.

In 2004, U-M Athletics and UMHS teamed to promote the “M GO BLUE for Mott” blue rubber wristbands, and unveiled the maize and blue tie-dye “M GO BLUE for Mott” wristband in fall 2005. Thanks to U-M Athletics and about 90 local schools and organizations, wristband sales have contributed more than $500,000 to the children’s and women’s hospitals campaign.

In all, the U-M Health System has raised more than $50 million of the $75 million goal for its children’s and women’s fund-raising campaign, part of the University-wide $2.5 billion The Michigan Difference campaign.

About the new U-M C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital & Women’s Hospital
The U-M Health System broke ground in October 2006 for the new $523 million C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital and Women’s Hospital facility. The facility is set to open in 2011.

With 1.1 million square feet, the facility will provide a new and larger home for specialty services not offered anywhere else in Michigan for newborns, children and pregnant women, such as the pediatric liver transplant program, the Level I Pediatric Trauma Program, the Pediatric and Adolescent Home Ventilator Program, the Craniofacial Anomalies Program, high-risk pregnancy services and specialty gynecological services.

Plans for the new children’s and women’s facility include16 pediatric operating rooms, four pediatric surgical procedure rooms, four Caesarean section suites, and 264 private inpatient beds upon opening, including 38 single room maternity care beds, with capacity for an additional 84 beds in the future.

To learn more about the children’s and women’s fund-raising campaign and building project, visit www.mottchildrenshospital.org.


Written by Krista Hopson