Who wants to travel from Syracuse all the way to Houston to watch the Orange take on Minnesota in the Texas Bowl? Not many people. So 'Cuse blog Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician presented its readership with an idea: Fans donate money, and kids from local youth groups will attend the game in their place.


The original plan was to send 200 kids, from a Houston YMCA and the Depelchin Children's Center. But a funny thing happened: first, the Texans, who run the bowl, caught wind of the campaign, and dropped the price of each ticket from $50 to $20. Then—so many fans donated.

The original goal was to raise $12,000 by Friday. That would have bought tickets, hot dogs, soda, and Syracuse t-shirts for 200 kids. Nunes/Magician raised $12,000 by last night . Between the flood of donations and the cut in ticket prices, as of around 9 a.m. today, they've raised enough to send 500 kids, with three days left of fundraising to go. The only problem left is finding more youth groups to provide the kids.


So donate, why don't you? These kids are going to enjoy the game a lot more than some bowl corporate partners. More details, plus the link to donate, at Nunes/Magician.