Trinity’s Student Ambassadors will be hosting their annual spring philanthropy event from Monday, Feb. 9, to Saturday, Feb. 14.
This year’s event, called Share the Love, will involve students, faculty, staff, alumni and other members of the Trinity community.
“The idea is to give back to your university and share the love that you’ve been receiving,” said Lea Watson, senior gift committee chair of Student Ambassadors.
Those who donate $20 or more can also choose to give their donation in someone’s honor and send them a note of encouragement. The donor and the honoree will receive a chocolate gold coin at the Student Ambassadors’s table at the Chocolate Festival on Friday, Feb. 13. If you give in someone’s name, that person will also be entered in a drawing to win a prize from the university.
Students can choose to give money as a “general gift,” which goes to scholarships for incoming students, or they can choose to donate to a certain department on campus. There is no minimum donation requirement.
“I know there’s a big emphasis on the fact that we are already paying a large amount of money to go to this school, but if everyone donated just a single dollar, that’s like a $2,000 scholarship right there,” said Federica Earl, co-chair of Student Ambassadors. “The fact that it goes from student to student is what makes it really special.”
Seniors can also give $20.15 as their senior gift, which allows them to sign a brick in the Murchison Tower during their final tower climb in May. The scholarship fund from the senior class gift will go to incoming students of the class of 2019.
“It’s because of philanthropy that our tuition isn’t even more than it could be, and it’s these gifts that help other students get scholarships like the ones we’ve received,” Watson said.
Share the Love will be taking the place of Duckapalooza, the month-long giving event that was commonly known for the tiger-striped rubber ducks around campus.
“We got a lot of feedback about Duckapalooza last year,” said Ben Whitehead, philanthropy chair of Student Ambassadors. “I’m proud to say that we listened and we responded.”
Duckapalooza raised over $12,000 in donations last year. The reason for the change from a month-long event to one that lasts only a week is primarily to shorten the number of emails that will be sent to students, as well as to minimize the number of resources and energy that will be spent coordinating the event.
“Share the Love is more about participation than a numerical goal of a monetary value,” Whitehead said.
Once the event begins, emails will be sent out with a link to the donation form. There will also be tables in Coates and by the library where students can donate with Tigerbucks or via credit card online.
“One of the core aspects of Student Ambassadors is to promote a spirit of philanthropy throughout the university,” Whitehead said. “It should come from your heart. Trinity really becomes a home for us and the people here become our family. I think making sure that future students can also enjoy it is a really beautiful and great thing.”
