St. Joseph’s University, New York hosted its fourth annual Giving Day on April 6, with the 24-hour fundraising campaign benefiting 20 different initiatives and raising $104,217 in 1,264 gifts from 695 donors.
“With each year, we grow stronger as a community and support projects that enhance the University’s mission and vision,” said Rory Shaffer-Walsh, vice president for institutional advancement.
“This year’s projects were nominated by students, faculty and staff, and include some renewed favorites and several new initiatives,” she continued. “Each one was carefully selected to ensure a direct impact on our students and our campuses.”
Alumni, faculty, staff and students came together to help support the various projects, with the University’s Board of Trustees making a generous matching gift to the first $8,500 donated. Their donation was spread evenly across the 20 projects.
Supporting St. Joseph’s Students
By supporting Giving Day, donors chose to directly support many of our students in ways that are meaningful to them.
The ACES (Academic Center for English Language Studies) program at the Brooklyn Campus passed their goal of raising $2,500 for a Student Resource Fund. They received $3,270 for their initiative, which will allow them to create a one-time assistance grant in order to help a student in need purchase such necessities as books, technology and transportation.
“A great big thank you to everyone who helped us exceed our fundraising goal!” ACES said in an Instagram post.
Student Veterans at the Long Island Campus collected more than $3,000 in their campaign to integrate a student veteran into the Peer Health Education Program. This addition will help provide student veterans with critical one-on-one veteran peer counseling, enhance military and veteran cultural competency, support diversity and inclusion, and promote campus and community connectedness. It collected one of the largest donations, receiving $2,000 from donor Michael L. Graziano, who gave in memory of Eunice P. Kilboy ’40.
The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships fund surpassed its goal, collecting funds to help provide students from each campus with a stipend of roughly $4,000 each to complete a faculty-mentored, 10-week summer research project.
“One of the barriers our students have in conducting research is a lack of time because, in addition to a full-time college schedule, many also must take part-time (and sometime full-time) jobs to pay the bills,” said Michael Magee, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology and director of undergraduate research in Brooklyn. “S.U.R.F. removes this barrier by paying our students a decent hourly wage for working on their research.”
Supporting Our Mission
Additional projects that support students intellectual rigor include an Online Student Book Fund, providing online students at the University facing financial hardships with the money they need to purchase textbooks; the Chalk & Wire Fund, which helps Child Study and Adolescence Education students from both campuses cover the subscription fee for the required portfolio program; and a Student Psychology Membership fund, helping provide Psychology majors in their junior year with a membership to the American Psychological Association and allowing them invaluable resources.
Students’ spiritual depth was further supported by donations to the fund for a Student Pilgrimage to Le Puy, France, where two students from St. Joseph’s University will have the chance to immerse themselves in the birthplace of the Sisters of St. Joseph while learning more about their history; and the Brooklyn Chapels Renovation, which is allowing for a renovation of two historic chapels at the Brooklyn Campus.
Projects that help benefit students’ extracurricular activities featured several student-athlete projects to help enhance their experience and allow for additional travel opportunities; the Art Club Glass Kiln Fund, which will help allow Long Island students to enjoy glass work — a rare offering at a small college; the Long Island Equestrian Team Summer Clinic Fund, offering members of the sports club the chance to better their riding skills through a six-week clinic; and the Marian Russo Student Activity Fund, created in honor of former long-time Student Life administrator Marian Russo, which will help support the growth and enhancement of student life, leadership development and programming at the Long Island Campus.
2 comments
Congratulations
Congratulations Well done