What is your club about?
The Pawprint Project is a student-led organization at Moravian University, dedicated to raising funds and awareness for pediatric cancer in the Lehigh Valley. We follow a peer-to-peer (peer-to-family) fundraising model, where students can raise money individually or as a team for our partner, the Pediatric Cancer Foundation of the Lehigh Valley (PCFLV – pcflv.org). PCFLV supports over 450 families in the Lehigh Valley area that are impacted by pediatric cancer. Our fundraising and awareness efforts culminate in an on-campus event, Pawapalooza, which strives to unite students, families, faculty, staff, alumni, and the broader Bethlehem community in support of PCFLV’s initiatives.
When was your club established?
The Pawprint Project was established in October of 2025.
Who are your current leaders (advisors, president, vice president, etc.)?
Advisor – Dr. Katie Desiderio
President – Andrew Hoopes
Vice President – AJ Borger
Secretary – Mary McGinn
Treasurer – Cole Buskirk
When does your club meet?
Our leadership team meets every Wednesday, and we are currently exploring ways to involve the rest of the campus in meetings.
What is the most popular activity that the campus knows you for?
The most popular activity that the campus knows us for is probably our Holiday Card-Making station, where we made over 200 cards for pediatric patients at St. Luke’s Hospital. We are also working on our flagship event, Pawapalooza, which is scheduled for April 11 on the Academic Quad. We will have live music, giveaways, games, and food to celebrate our initiatives throughout the semester and honor our cancer families.
What are the biggest challenges that your club faces?
As a first-year club, we’ve faced many challenges, especially in planning such a large-scale event. We’ve faced many difficulties due to budgetary constraints and scheduling conflicts. However, we are diligently working through these challenges and keeping our mission at the center of everything we do.
If you could pair up with another club for an event or project, who would it be?
We’ve already worked with several clubs, and plan to work with many more. One club we share a similar mission with is WITHGrace, and we are hopeful of continuing to build our positive relationship and holding more mission-aligned events with them!
What is the latest project that your club is excited about?
Our latest project is Pawapalooza, which we are aiming to host on April 11! This event will have various activities, live music and performances, games, and giveaways.
If you had an unlimited budget, what dream project would your club put it towards?
If The Pawprint Project had an unlimited budget, we would organize a larger-scale fundraising event to maximize the amount we raise for PCFLV.
What was your initial reasoning for organizing this club?
I’ve held several leadership roles throughout high school. My most formative experience was serving as chair of my school’s MiniTHON. After noticing the absence of a program like this at Moravian, I decided to bring The Pawprint Project to life.
