Founder Named to AFCA Good Works Team

September 13, 2006

Georgetown's David Fajgenbaum Named to AFCA Good Works Team

Sept. 13, 2006

Washington, D.C. - Georgetown University senior quarterback David Fajgenbaum (Winston-Salem, N.C./Ravenscroft) was one of 22 college football players nationally selected to the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Good Works Team, it was announced on Wednesday afternoon. Fajgenbaum's selection is the first for a Hoya football player since the Good Works team was started in 1992.

The two 11-man teams, a Division I-A team and a combined team from Divisions I-AA, II, III and the NAIA, honor players for their dedication and commitment to community service. From 1992-96, the Good Works Team was selected by the College Football Association. When the CFA disbanded in 1997, the AFCA began selecting the teams.

"This is a tremendous honor for David and I'm very happy for him," Georgetown Head Football Coach Kevin Kelly said. "In the short time I've been here, I have found him to be one of the hardest working players we have and a young man who has tremendous drive and energy to succeed in everything that comes his way."

Fajgenbaum was named to the Good Works Team as a result of his founding of Students of Ailing Mothers and Fathers Support Network (www.studentsofamf.org), whose acronym (AMF) comes directly from his mother's name. Anne Marie Fajgenbaum passed away in December 2004 from a brain tumor and Students of AMF aims to help students at college campuses cope with the psychological, spiritual, social, and academic difficulties associated with having a sick loved one through service, support, and mentoring.

"The time constraints on a student-athlete are extremely challenging in a highly competitive arena," Georgetown Director of Athletics Bernard Muir said. "For David to be recognized and honored as part of the Good Works Team is a tribute to him and to all of the great things that he has done for Georgetown and for the Students of AMF. We are extremely proud of him."
 
When Fajgenbaum's mother passed away, he wanted to find a way to honor her and at the same time, raise money to support cancer research, which resulted in the "Boot Camp 2 Beat Cancer," held during the summer of 2005. While he hoped to raise a thousand dollars, he ended up raising more than $8,000. This past summer, the second annual "Boot Camp 2 Beat Cancer/AMF (A Morning of Fitness)" event raised more than $20,000.

"I'm honored to be selected to a team like this," Fajgenbaum said. "The neatest thing for me was to have been nominated and to be selected is unbelievable. My coaches and my teammates have supported me and have really gotten involved so this award is as much to them as it is to me."

Students of AMF, which was named as Georgetown University's "Outstanding Direct Service Program," has also received a grant from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill to become incorporated as a non-profit organization. The program was recognized by UNC as the Director of Outreach for the Students of AMF, Benjamin Chesson, is a student there, and a high school classmate of Fajgenbaum.

"It's amazing how this has grown," Fajgenbaum said. "In October 2004, I told my mom I was going to do it. Two months later, we had 100 kids on campus who were involved and by the end of the semester, it had grown to over 300 people.

"I talk to my sisters about it everyday. Every time they talk about AMF they say, `Look at what you and mom are doing.' It's really been a way for her life to continue. I know in my heart that she loves this. She was everyone's mom when I was growing up and she's staying that way now."

Fajgenbaum, who is pursuing a bachelor of science in human sciences and is expected to graduate from Georgetown in May 2007 before attending medical school.

This is not the first time he has been recognized for his service work. In April 2006, he was a recipient of the Lena Landegger Community Service Award by the University and presented with $2,500 for his distinguished contributions to community service. The annual awards were created in the honor of the late Lena Landegger by the Landegger Charitable Foundation, and provide an opportunity for Georgetown to celebrate and honor its deep commitment to and tradition of community service. He was also chosen as a 2006 Lisa J. Raines Summer Scholar. The summer scholar was presented a $5,000 research grant, which he used this past summer to study bereavement among college students.

In 2005, Fajgenbaum was the recipient of the Jean Markham Weber Award, the top service and scholarship honor in the School of Nursing and Health Studies, and he won the Thomas P. McTighe Prize, awarded to a student selected to address students and family at the opening convocation.

Fajgenbaum is a Special Youth Advisor at the Friends of Cancer Research in Washington and served as a representative during Brain Tumor Action Week in 2005 and 2006, lobbying the United States Congress for priority funding for brain cancer research. In October 2005, he was asked to represent the Georgetown University Lombardi Cancer Center as a VIP Rider during Lance Armstrong's "Tour of Hope." He was one of a group of 20 riders in the last group with Armstrong during his visit to the nation's capital last year.

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