Annual Scholarship


Mount Sinai patients submit your application to: [email protected]

Cleveland Clinic patients submit your application to: [email protected]


The Athletes vs. Crohn’s & Colitis Scholarship is given to a high school athlete
“who has demonstrated qualities consistent with the belief that luck is largely a byproduct of persistence,
hard work, and positive attitude in tough or unfamiliar situations.”

To qualify for consideration, applicants must:

  • Be undergoing treatment for Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis at Cleveland Clinic or Mt. Sinai IBD Clinical Center
  • Be a High School Senior active in athletics and attending full-time college in the Fall of 2023
  • Display courage, resiliency, and refusal to let IBD hold them back from reaching their goals



2022 Scholarship Award Winners

We are thrilled to honor these special scholarship recipients to our Athletes vs Crohn’s and Colitis family!

MEGAN EARP

ZACH GLESIUS

MAX MIGNOGNA

SAM ODDO

CODY SIEGEL

CAROLINE SPAULDING

OWEN TENNANT

ERICA WEADOCK

CAROLINE ZENTIS



2021 Scholarship Award Winners
and Dinner

This year, we are thrilled to honor this very special group of new members of AVC’s team against Crohn’s and Colitis – our 2021 Cleveland Clinic Scholarship Award recipients!

ALYSON VEVERKA: Olmsted Falls HS, attending Ashland University to study Marketing and golf for AU

GRANT ABRAHAM: Brookfield High School, attending University of Akron to study Aerospace Systems Engineering

ALAINA HARPST: Greenville HS (PA,) attending Thiel College on a golf scholarship

MAGGIE GUIMOND: Watseka Community HS (IL,) attending Kankakee Community College

In addition to our 2021 honorees, we were also able to (finally!) celebrate the accomplishments of our 2020 honorees from the Cleveland Clinic – Bridget, Max, and Maddie. It was an amazing evening and we are so happy to welcome Alyson, Grant, Alaina, and Maggie to the AVC family!

Click on the FACEBOOK LOGO to see all the photos from our scholarship dinner at Alley Cat Oyster Bar.

We are also thrilled to honor our 2021 Mt. Sinai Scholarship Award recipient!

This year, we are thrilled to JULIA OSTERMANN, freshman soccer player at Merrimack University, with our 2021 Scholarship Award!

In addition to our 2021 honoree, we were also able to (finally!) celebrate the accomplishments of our 2020 honorees from Mt. Sinai – JALIN, TOBY, and ZACH (see below).

It was an amazing evening at Tao Uptown in New York City, and we are so happy to welcome Julia to the AVC family!



2020 Scholarship Award Winners

Here are our newest members of the AVC family – our 2020 scholarship recipients! We are thrilled to have these wonderful young men and women, from Cleveland and NYC, representing our organization:

FROM Cleveland Clinic

MADDIE SHOWALTER: attending Kent State University to study Nursing and Biology

MAX ALI: attending Rochester Institute of Technology to study Mechanical Engineering

BRIDGET DOUGLAS: attending Eastern Michigan University to study Occupational Therapy

FROM Mt. Sinai IBD Clinical Center, New York

ZACH PALEY: attending Indiana University to study Sports Management

JALIN WALTERS: attending Onondaga Community College to study biology

TOBY FALLER: attending University of Miami

Our 6 winners from this year, in combination with our 4 prior honorees, brings our total scholarship grants to $50,000 over the past 3 years!

Please join us in wishing these special student athletes all the best in their future endeavors in college and beyond!



2019 Cleveland Scholarship Awards Dinner

We had the honor of presenting our annual scholarship to 2 very deserving Cleveland Clinic patients who refuse to let IBD hold them back from reaching their goals, both on and off the court!

SARAH GRINSTEAD is a senior at West Geauga High school, and was diagnosed with Crohn’s at age 14. Active in soccer, basketball, and 4H, Sarah has been accepted to the Pre-Med program at John Carrol University.

MICHAEL DASCENZO is a senior at Canfield High School and was diagnosed with Crohn’s at age 9. Active in football, basketball, and track, Michael plans to continue his studies at Kent State University in hopes of becoming an FBI agent.

Congratulations to Sarah, Michael, and their loving families! We are so proud to have you as a part of the AVC family‼️???

CLICK HERE to see more photos from our scholarship dinner @ Michael Angelo’s Winery.



2018 NYC Athletes vs. Crohn’s Scholarship Dinner

We had the pleasure of awarding the 2018 Athletes vs. Crohn’s and Colitis Scholarship Award to a very deserving young man, HUNTER MORAN.

Hunter is a standout volleyball player at his high school and was diagnosed with Crohn’s at age 13. We couldn’t be prouder to award Hunter with our annual scholarship and are lucky to have him as a part of our AVC family!

Our 2018 AVC Scholarship Award winner – Hunter Moran!
Larry and Noah with the Moran family
Both AVC scholarship honorees, Noah, and Larry with world renowned pediatric GI Marla Dubinksy

CLICK HERE to see more photos from our scholarship dinner.



2017 NYC Athletes vs. Crohn’s Scholarship Winner

We’re so excited to have given out our first scholarship to a very deserving young man! JOE CONTINO, a high school senior football player with Crohn’s disease, has shown incredible grit in his Crohn’s and athletic journey.

Congratulations Joe!

Noah Weber, Larry Nance, Jr. and Joe Contino at the first annual L7 Award and scholarship.
From left: Marla Dubinksy, MD of the Susan and Leonard Feinstein IBD Clinical Center; Larry Nance Jr., Co-founder of AVC; Noah Weber, Co-founder of AVC; Joe Contino, recipient of the L7 award; and Joe’s proud family

CLICK HERE to read a thank you letter from Joe Contino to Athletes vs Crohn’s and Colitis