The Moraine Valley Community College Foundation, for the sixth consecutive year, will participate in Giving Tuesday, a global giving movement scheduled for Nov. 27.
Giving Tuesday, which kicks off the charitable season, is celebrated through social networks on the Tuesday following Thanksgiving in the United States and the widely-recognized shopping events Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
“The Moraine Valley Foundation in 2018 awarded more than 160 scholarships totaling $170,000 raised from individuals, community organizations and corporate donations,” said Kristy McGreal, executive director of the Foundation. “This year, 1,300 students demonstrating academic success and financial need applied and qualified for scholarships. While 15 percent of these students were given scholarships, there were still many deserving students needing support. To help raise funds to serve more students, the Foundation is participating in Giving Tuesday.”
As an incentive to give in this “Be the Change” campaign, an anonymous donor is offering a box suite for 10 for a Chicago Bulls basketball game. Donors are given one chance for every $25 donated. The winning entry will be drawn on Wednesday, Nov. 28.
College employees, students, alumni and the community are encouraged to give as well as to help promote others to give any amount of a donation. “With a little bit of help from our supporters, donations can go viral. We’ve seen donations change the lives of many of our students. When you give to a student, it’s more than financial because it also opens their minds, lifts their spirits and inspires them knowing someone believes in them,” McGreal said.
Persons who would like to participate can do so in a number of ways, including making a donation online at morainevalley.edu/bethechange, “liking” the Moraine Valley Alumni Facebook page and sharing its posts with your social media circle, and checking with your employer to see if there is a matching donor program. Donors are encouraged to post selfies to social media and use hashtag #iamthechangemv.
The Moraine Valley Foundation, a 501(c)3 not-for-profit entity, promotes and financially supports the college’s mission of educating the whole person in a learning-centered environment, recognizing our responsibilities to one another, to our communities and to the world. The Foundation partners with corporate and private financial donors to provide academic and need-based scholarships, emergency assistance for students to remain in schools, grant funds to faculty and staff for innovative projects and financial support for the Fine and Performing Arts Center. Since its inception in 1983, the Foundation has awarded more than $1 million for scholarships, programs and support of the college’s mission.
For more information, contact McGreal at mcgrealc2@morainevalley.edu or (708) 974-5740.
