Colorado State University Athletics
Ram Volunteers Making A Difference
8/17/2004 12:00:00 AM | General
For Carol Zick, being a part of the Colorado State Rams family is genetic. Both her parents are CSU alumni, and since Carol and her husband, Brian, moved to Fort Collins in 1980, the Zicks have been big Rams supporters.
While the Zicks had been going to CSU sporting events for years, Carol decided to get more involved with the Colorado State Athletics Department nearly 11 years ago. Since then, she?s played a big role as a volunteer for both the annual Greater Ram Club drive and the Ram Good Time Auction fundraising event.
?I think that a lot of the students who play in athletics are good role models and do quite a bit of things for the community,? she said. ?Going to anything involving CSU Athletics is good, clean fun. And I thought I would enjoy (volunteering).?
The Zicks have two children. Sarah will be a sophomore at CSU this fall, and Scott will be a junior at Fort Collins High School, where he is a wide receiver on the football team. Brian works for The Engineering Company in Fort Collins, while Carol teaches at Bauder Elementary.
Carol spends a great amount of time each year on the Greater Ram Club (GRC) membership drive.
?If you explain the benefits and you explain all the good things CSU does for the community, it?s not really a hard sell,? she said about the GRC. ?You?re just explaining that even if you don?t go to all the football games or all the basketball games, you?re donating to keep a quality program in town.?
Each fall when it?s time to start gathering items for the Ram Good Time Auction, Zick takes a day off from work to busy herself on the phones, calling on her numerous contacts in the region.
The Ram Good Time Auction is one of the most popular fundraising events in Fort Collins. Each year, a group of volunteers get local merchants and individuals to donate items for the silent auction. The gala event, which is inevitably a sell-out, includes dinner, dancing and other festivities, as well as a live and silent auction. All the proceeds go to help pay for CSU student-athlete scholarships.
The next Ram Good Time Auction is slated for Saturday, March 5.
?The auction?s great because I?ve done it for so many years, and I kind of have a rapport with people,? Carol said. ?I call them up and I tell them that it?s that time of year. The community is really good about supporting the Athletics Department.?
Some of her favorite items she has helped land for the Auction have included a stay in a hotel in Palm Springs, California, donated by the Monfort family, and an Indian motorcycle signed by CSU head football coach Sonny Lubick, donated by Tynan?s Auto Dealership in Fort Collins.
Don?t plan on the Zicks missing any Colorado State football games. When a friend asked Carol recently if she wanted to go see a Fleetwood Mac concert, her first response was, ?I?ve got to see if CSU?s playing that day.?
?We rarely miss a football game,? she continued. ?We try not to miss a basketball game. We try and check in on the women?s basketball team. We certainly have a passion for it and try to get to as many games as we can.?
That devotion paid off last year when she asked then-CSU quarterback Bradlee Van Pelt to come to speak to her class at school.
?He said, ?I can come for a little bit.? But he stayed for the whole morning,? Carol said. ?We had four classes of 6th-graders at that time, with about 110 kids. He went to each class and talked to each kid and signed each kid?s shirt or shoe or whatever. Then he went outside and played football with them. He was awesome.
?And I?ve had other athletes come in as well. They do so much for the community; it?s really nice.?
If you would like more information on the Greater Ram Club, the Ram Good Time Auction, or becoming a GRC volunteer, please call (970) 491-4666.
