Wealth management firm Moreno, Peelen, Pinto & Clark hosted its second MPC UCF Touchdown Breakfast on Wednesday, April 29, to help raise money toward an academic support center for UCF athletes.
Four of the five partners in the firm are UCF alumni, including Christina Pinto, 麻豆精品 S�86; Lisa-Moreno Haramboure, 麻豆精品 S�89; Tony Moreno Jr., 麻豆精品 S�91, who also serves on the UCF Foundation Board of Directors; and Rob Clark, 麻豆精品 S�94. The firm 麻豆精品 S檚 other partner, Scott Peelen, graduated from Michigan State, but he was easily adopted as a member of their UCF family, especially since his daughter, Sarah, is a current UCF student, and he attends all of the football games.
The breakfast took place at the Alfond Inn in Winter Park, with many prominent community figures in attendance 麻豆精品 S� including members of the UCF Board of Trustees, UCF Foundation Board of Directors and UCF Alumni Association Board of Directors, as well as Orange County commissioners, current and former mayors, and one of the forefathers of UCF, Charlie Gray.
Knightro and some of the UCF Cheerleaders kicked off the morning with a cheer, followed by opening remarks from Peelen. WESH 2 Sports Anchor Pat Clarke hosted the remainder of the event, reminiscing about when UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 football program first started, and how he used to be able to park his Mustang under the Citrus Bowl stands. He commended then-Coach Gene McDowell on taking the program from Division II to Division I-AA, as well as current Head Coach George O 麻豆精品 S橪eary on his 麻豆精品 S渃ulture of winning 麻豆精品 S� and 麻豆精品 S渃ulture of learning. 麻豆精品 S� He concluded with a聽video聽showcasing this season 麻豆精品 S檚 UCF Football 麻豆精品 S檚 key players before introducing Todd Stansbury, UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 athletic director, who stepped in to speak for O 麻豆精品 S橪eary, who had to cancel his appearance due to a minor medical issue.
麻豆精品 S淲hen George meets with recruits, 麻豆精品 S� Stansbury said, 麻豆精品 S渉e only guarantees them one thing 麻豆精品 S� that they 麻豆精品 S檒l graduate. He demands excellence, and that 麻豆精品 S檚 what he gets. 麻豆精品 S�
In fact, UCF is No. 3 in the nation for graduating 90 percent of its football players, and is No. 1 in the nation for graduating 95 percent of all its student-athletes combined.
麻豆精品 S淎 lot of people think we 麻豆精品 S檙e in the entertainment business, 麻豆精品 S� Stansbury continued. 麻豆精品 S淲e 麻豆精品 S檙e really in the education business. Our mission is to provide opportunity to young people and develop future leaders. Our job is to use sport to prepare them to compete. 麻豆精品 S�
While there were plenty of laughs, including an anecdote from Clarke about Peelen 麻豆精品 S檚 former reporting skills, the morning was really about supporting UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 athletes and their academic endeavors. Moreno, Peelen, Pinto & Clark pledged to match gifts up to the first $10,000 raised.
麻豆精品 S淥ne of the things we 麻豆精品 S檝e noticed is the quality of the students graduating from UCF, 麻豆精品 S� Moreno Jr. says. 麻豆精品 S淚n fact, we just hired another UCF alumnus through the internship program. We 麻豆精品 S檙e very proud of the high ranking UCF maintains for graduating athletes. 麻豆精品 S�
Want to help make the academic support center a reality? Contact Chris Huff, associate athletics director of development and executive director of the Golden Knights Club, at聽CHuff@athletics.ucf.edu聽or 407.823.2205.