Scoring a date with a semi-famous classmate and helping an ailing child are two activities that usually don’t go together. But who says both can’t be done at the same time?

The University’s chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation is making it possible tonight at Wild Wing Cafe.

Emily Rieder, co-president of the chapter and a junior from Peachtree City, said the wishes give the children a spark of hope while they are going through hard times.

“It really does help them stay encouraged to keep fighting,” Rieder said.

The group will be auctioning off dates with student athletes to raise money for a local three-year-old girl.

The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a national organization that grants wishes for children with life-threatening illnesses.

Marissa Mahovlich, the chapter’s student outreach director and a junior from Roswell, said this is the first time they have held a date auction to raise funds.

To grant one child’s wish, it takes $5,000 to $6,000, she said.

“We figured that everyone probably wants a date with an athlete,” Mahovlich said.

Students will have the opportunity to win a date with a variety of University athletes, including football players, swimmers, cheerleaders, gymnasts, club hockey players, tennis players and members of the track and women’s soccer teams.

More than 50 student athletes will participate, and the bidding will start around $10 for each person auctioned off.

Kelley Myers, the other co-president and a junior from Peachtree City, said they have several well-known athletes, and students will enjoy matching familiar names with faces.

“Even if you don’t plan on bidding on anyone, it should be fun,” she said.

The highest bidder will receive a free dinner to Wild Wing Cafe, and everyone who bids will get a free T-shirt.

Myers said she joined the University’s Make-A-Wish chapter because she knows where the money is going.

“I wanted to get involved in a cause where I could really see the benefits,” she said.

The University’s group was the first collegiate chapter of the foundation and was started in 2001.

This semester, the chapter will hold a car-beating before a football game as well as a run-walk and is planning a poker tournament to raise more funds.

Mahovlich said the date auction is a chance for students to not only win a date with an athlete but also support a great cause.

“It’s going to be a fun night,” she said. “It’s definitely worthwhile to come out.”