CSM Foundation Chair Nancy Hempstead, right, visits with a recipient of Hempstead Family Scholarship, Ashley Stinnett, at the Prince Frederick Campus on #GivingTuesday, Nov. 28.LA PLATA, Md. (December 22, 2017)—The generosity that is a hallmark of this community helped the College of Southern Maryland Foundation raise nearly $120,000 for student scholarships and programs on #GivingTuesday, Nov. 28.
"What's especially gratifying about this year's Giving Tuesday is the overwhelming support for the college expressed both by the community and by the college's staff and faculty," said CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy. "We are so grateful to all who gave on Giving Tuesday and to those who have given in the past. These gifts help our students achieve their dreams."
During the 24-hour online event, 366 donors gave $119,673 in the spirit of #GivingTuesday, an international day focused on philanthropy and giving to others that follows Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday. The college had hoped to see at least 300 unique donors during this year's event. That goal was surpassed, and the donations which ranged from just a few dollars to the Salta family's $15,000 matching donation added up to more than a 70 percent increase over last year's giving. Last year, the CSM Foundation raised $70,177 through 271 unique donors through the online event.
On #GivingTuesday, representatives from student government and scholarship recipients staffed "thank-you stations" at three of the CSM campuses—in La Plata, Leonardtown and Prince Frederick. The students helped donors, answered questions, composed thank-you cards and gave out candy, doughnuts and coffee.
Camille DeJesus, 19, of Bryans Road, treasurer for La Plata's Student Association, was stationed at the La Plata Campus, where she sat in front of her laptop, repetitively refreshing the screen to watch the donation page as the number of donors and the amount of donations grew with each click.
"It's really fun to see," she said, as she observed the general scholarship fund was a popular designation for donors, as well as STEM programs, and many faculty members were giving in response to the college president's challenge. Murphy had made an initial gift of $1,000 and then challenged all employees to join her in making an impact, saying she would donate $1 above and beyond her gift for every CSM employee who participated on Nov. 28. Altogether, 115 CSM employees participated in the challenge.
DeJesus also donated to a variety of scholarship funds during the event. "As a scholarship recipient myself, I wanted to return the kindness given to me back to scholarships for other students," she said. "Even if I did not donate a lot of money, I wanted to at least give something to show how thankful I am for having so many scholarship opportunities here … I appreciate the great effort that the CSM Foundation puts forward for the students."
At the Leonardtown Campus, members of the student association had voted to help with the #GivingTuesday event. Carly Pollock, 20, of Leonardtown, president of the Leonardtown Campus student government, said it was an easy vote. "We decided we want to give back," she said, adding that many students rely on scholarship assistance and student government wanted to be advocates for those students.
One of those scholarship recipients, Jamyra Grymes, 20, of Lexington Park, was volunteering at the Leonardtown Campus. A nursing student at CSM, Grymes thinks she would like to assist in an operating room someday. She is the recipient of three scholarships.
"Not every student has the privilege to go to college," Grymes said. "The scholarship money really helps."
If she had the chance to address all the donors that helped with her scholarships, Grymes said she'd "like to thank them for their investment in my education. And, hopefully, I'll be able to help them one day as a nurse."
CSM Foundation Chair Nancy Hempstead and Immediate Past-Chair E. Rané Franklin visited the Prince Frederick Campus on #GivingTuesday, donating and visiting with students.
"Every year I am amazed by the incredible response to Giving Tuesday," Hempstead said. "It shows that the spirit of giving is truly alive in our community and reinforces the value and the strong support that CSM continues to build. I love being on campus and seeing firsthand the great turnout from our students as well."
This year the need and focus of CSM's #GivingTuesday was on supporting student scholarships, and donors were able to double their impact by giving to several matching scholarship funds, in which every dollar donated to specific scholarships was matched by the donor. Scholarship funds that provided matching funds included the Charles K. Walsh Memorial Scholarship, Coldwell Banker Jay Lilly Real Estate Scholarship Fund for Construction Trades and Industrial Training, Cox Family Memorial Scholarship, Hempstead Family Scholarship, Mary I. Shasho Memorial Endowed Scholarship, Nyce Annual and Endowed Scholarships, Oreta Stinson Memorial Engineering Scholarship, Peter Cangelosi Memorial Scholarship, Solomons Business Association Scholarship, SMECO Scholarship for Administrative Professionals, Southern Maryland Women's League Scholarship and the Zonta Club of Charles County Scholarship.
In addition to the focus on raising funds for scholarships this #Giving Tuesday, both the CSM Student Association and CSM Athletics were working to raise funds for programs in their areas. The CSM Student Association was raising funds and awareness for its micro-food pantries, named Hawk Feeders, that are on each of CSM's four campuses. Hawk Feeders help address the short-term basic food needs students may experience and operate on the concept of "take what you need, give what you can."
CSM Athletics raised funds for the college's baseball field, dugouts and bleachers, which are the original structures. Newer facilities will ensure the safety of athletes and fans and are critical to CSM's ability to recruit the next generation of talent, said Assistant Director of Athletics Sarah Williams. In addition, all CSM teams raised money for out-of-conference travel and gear. "It's necessary," Williams said.
To view a gallery of photos from #GivingTuesday, visit csmphoto.zenfolio.com/17givetues. To donate any time to scholarship funds at CSM, visit foundation.csmd.edu/giving/ .