Jack Delmore, a graduate student and pitcher for the Holy Names University Hawks, was gearing up for the 2020 baseball season when he received some life-altering news.

It started with just not feeling quite right, which he could brush off at first. Then his symptoms became severe enough for a doctor’s visit, which led to a colonoscopy to check for cancer.

By January 2021, Delmore was in treatment. He had been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. The news came as a complete shock to him as well as to his teammates and the Hawks’ head baseball coach, Eseteban Contreras.

Following his first round of treatment, Delmore went to the ballfield to visit with the team. Coach Contreras mentioned that he and Delmore’s teammates had been wanting to do something to show their support for their teammate during this tough time.

But Delmore isn’t one for big shows of affection. “I didn’t want anything done for me or any attention on me,” he says. That’s how they came up with the idea for a schoolwide fundraiser. Despite the difficulty he was facing on his own, Delmore wanted to use the attention he was receiving to turn his experience into something positive.

When they discussed potential causes to support with the fundraiser, Make-A-Wish Greater Bay Area quickly came up as a leading candidate. Holy Names University has been a supporter of Make-A-Wish for some time through our NCAA Division II partnership, where student athletes come together to fundraise for wish kids. Holy Names University, based in Oakland, is one of the top fundraising schools in our territory.

Additionally, Delmore and Coach Contreras each had a more personal connection to wish stories from their own communities. Contreras had learned about Make-A-Wish through a Holy Names baseball player who had experienced the power of a wish first-hand. “He told us his story, and how important it was for him and his family when they were going through a difficult time,” says Contreras. “Just to bring some happiness and something normal to their lives. It was really special.”

Delmore had a friend whose girlfriend shared the story of her own wish. “She was telling me about it, and I thought: ‘That’s a pretty wholesome idea,’” he says. “It kind of stuck in my head for a while.”

With his coach and team by his side and a cause selected, Delmore launched the “Delly Drive” in full force. The goal was ambitious—to raise $10,000, enough to underwrite the average cost of a wish. During his own time of struggle, he wanted to bring some happiness to a child in need.

Delmore continued with his treatment while fundraising. Altogether, he faced six rounds of chemotherapy. But he never let the cancer hold him back.

At the same time, his community began to rally around him and donations came streaming in. “The people who donated, they covered a large range of the community—from his time at UC Berkeley, from his days in Alameda Babe Ruth, to here at Holy Names,” says Contreras. “It was pretty cool to see everybody come together and support him.”

After many months of effort, the team finally reached their goal. With this bar met, Delmore has raised enough to grant the average cost of a wish through our Adopt-A-Wish program. “It feels good to set goals and reach them,” he says of hitting that mark.

The team is looking forward to adopting a wish and learning more about the child’s experience. “It’s really fulfilling to know that someone is going to get that wish. It’s going to be even more special,” says Coach Contreras.

Something else really stood out: The way that people from across their community helped out in whatever way they could.

“I like how a lot of people helped with medium and small donations,” explains Delmore. “It wasn’t some high rollers throwing big money down. It was a big group effort.”

“It wasn’t really the amount,” adds Contreras, “It was the thought—I know that some of the people on the fundraiser are grad assistants who are just scraping by. It means a lot that they gave what they have.”