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Congratulations Eric Shrive.

The Penn State redshirt junior offensive lineman is the 2013 Uplifting Athletes Rare Disease Champion Award winner.

Shrive was one of seven finalists this year and becomes the fifth recipient of the award.

“It’s with great pride that we celebrate Eric Shrive as our 2013 Rare Disease Champion. This is the first year in the award's history that we’ve honored an active member of an Uplifting Athletes chapter as our winner,” Uplifting Athletes Executive Director Scott Shirley said. “However, Eric’s impact on the rare disease community exceeds that of any of his peers in the last 10 years. He is a true leader and an inspiration to us all.

“I would also like to recognize the other six finalists and their accomplishments. Each of their stories was an inspiration for us to build on. Congratulations.”

Voting for the 2013 Rare Disease Champion was conducted online and was a 100 percent public vote to decide the winner.

Oklahoma’s Austin Woods, USC’s Frankie Telfort, Florida’s Neiron Ball, Fordham’s Andrew Milmore, Humboldt State’s Dillon Reagan and Chris Ferguson of the Naval Academy were the other six finalists.

Shrive, a 6-6, 305-pound lineman from West Scranton, Pennsylvania, has raised nearly $70,000 for Uplifting Athletes the last four years through Penn State’s Lift for Life. Those dollars directly benefit kidney cancer research – the chosen rare disease of Penn State’s chapter.

Plus it helps shed a brighter light on the bigger picture of the fight against rare diseases nationwide.

Shrive, who was recently elected as the president of the Penn State chapter after two years as its vice president, is the top student-athlete fundraiser in Uplifting Athletes’ history.

Shrive will officially receive his trophy at the Maxwell Football Club National Awards Gala on March 1 in Atlantic City. His presentation will be broadcast on ESPN3 as part of the Maxwell Club program.

And one day later, Shrive will be honored again at the Uplifting Athletes Gridiron Gala in Harrisburg inside Strawberry Square. For more information on attending or sponsoring the Gridiron Gala on March 2, check our web site at http://www.upliftingathletes.org/gridirongala.