Bogus Smith Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 Good evening, message board members! As we wind down the calendar year, ORU athletes are working hard on their skills, education, and learning life. The landscape for a student-athlete is changing - whether we like it or not. Now, through the foresight and leadership of some of our Golden Eagle fans and administrators, we have started the Eternal Flame Collective. We are making the Collective as a positive effort for the student-athletes (starting with the men's basketball team for now) so that they can learn how to use their name, image, and likeness to promote themselves and the causes that mean the most to them. We will be connecting them with some of the causes and nonprofit organizations that they can help and compensate them for these efforts. Additionally, we will help our student-athletes with money management, financial planning and other life skills that will assist them in their life after ORU. I am asking you to consider "Joining the Flame" by making a contribution to the Eternal Flame Collective (the underlined text is a link to the website) before the end of 2023. With your help and funds, we can help work in these student-athlete's lives to prepare them to use their God-given gifts. Together, we can make a difference that will benefit our athletic programs, but also provide an impact to further our players' lives and attract the student-athletes that our coaches need to recruit. This is a first-year startup entity. As you can imagine, we have had our growing pains in getting this organization off the ground. ELC has applied for our 501(c)(3) status to make your contributions tax-deductible (if you itemize on your tax return). Once we receive this status, all contributions from the beginning of our application in September 2023 will be treated as a charitable contribution for tax purposes. The items that we have available for your gifts will be forthcoming, but our "distribution center" (someone's living room or garage) is still developing its logistics, so please be patient and don't expect your gifts before Christmas (of this year ). Thank you for your consideration in investing in the lives and testimonies of our student-athletes and assisting our athletic programs to be the best! Merry Christmas to all. To God be the glory! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted December 28, 2023 Author Share Posted December 28, 2023 For those that are interested, the Collective received its notification from the Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday that the organization is exempt from income tax and affirmed its 501(c)(3) status as of May 15 (the date that the organization was created in Oklahoma). All donations to the Collective will be tax-deductible. It is not too late to make a donation to the Eternal Flame Collective if it is done by credit card before December 31. Donations made on Sunday (12/31) will count towards your charitable contribution deduction in 2023 (if you itemize your deductions). Thank you for your consideration to assisting our student-athletes and our athletic programs at ORU. Happy New Year! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bogus Smith Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 The link to the video is https://twitter.com/ORUAthletics/status/1747365211622068695. It's a cool video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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