With 81 percent of the Keene State College student body requesting financial support, student callers from the Phonathon Program raised awareness of alumni contributions through a follow up event called “Throwback Give Forward” in the student center on Thursday, April 16.
The Phonathon Program is where current students reach out to alumni to ask for donations to the KSC Fund, which raises about $200,000 annually, according to their website.
During the earlier months of this year’s fall semester, Phonathon members put on an event called “Giving Tuesday,” where students were given free plastic piggy banks that they decorated and took home.
The students were encouraged to put spare change in their piggy banks and come back during “Throwback Give Forward” to donate the collected change to a fund or scholarship of their choice.
According to junior and communications major Matthew Pereira, the point of “Throwback Give Forward” is to raise awareness and create a sense of community between everyone at the college.
“We hope to raise awareness about the Development Center at the Alumni Center here on campus,” Pereria explained.
“Throwback Give Forward’ is here to bring everyone together and raise money for scholarships, financial aid and other funds on campus,” Pereira said.
Pereira said many students who participated in “Giving Tuesday” returned with their piggy banks for Thursday’s festivities.
“We’ve seen a lot of staff and faculty donating. Some people have given really generous amounts of change, so we’ve seen a really good turn out, not only from students but faculty and staff as well,” Pereira commented.
Senior and Management major Dan Jean worked one of the few booths set up at the event.
The booth consisted of four different fishbowls that were filled with glass beads.
Jean explained, “Here, we’re [asking] students and faculty to guess how many beads are in these fishbowls.”
He continued, “Each bead represents a student who goes [to KSC] on a scholarship out of the total five-thousand and five-hundred members of the student body.”
Jean also explained that “Throwback Give Forward” acts as a means of educating students about the importance of alumni contributions.
“I feel a lot of people think that we’re telemarketers and we’re asking for donations to the school,” Jean said.
“But actually, all the money that [is contributed to funds like the KSC fund] goes directly to the students, it can’t be used for anything but helping our education,” he said.
Catherine Tewell, an Elementary Education and Psychology major, agreed with Jean.
She said, “At the Alumni Center we work really hard to help our fellow students. We’ll do things like the Phonathon and ‘Throwback Give Forward’ to create a greater sense of community.”
That sense of community was achieved, according to Janet Albarado, a staff member in KSC’s Grants Office.
“I love that it’s a campus-wide campaign,” she said.
Albarado added, “I think it’s good to get the students to think about giving back, even if it’s in small ways.”
“It’s a really positive way to get students, faculty and staff to come together and gives this ‘we’re all in this together’ kind of feel — which I love,” Albarado said.
Albarado said she donated her change to the music department’s scholarship fund.
“It’s important for students to be able to pursue music if they really want to and there’s not always a lot of funding for them to do that, so this feels like a really direct way for me to help them out,” she explained.
Tewell stated the opportunity for faculty, staff and students to get so involved through “Throwback Give Forward” is one of her favorite aspects of the event.
Phonathon members even went as far as creating a large card for the KSC community to sign to thank alumni for their donations.
“Hopefully this [event] will help students see what a big role alumni play in their education,” Tewell said.
“We’re encouraging people to sign the card and say thank you to those that are giving back and allowing students to be apart of Keene State [College],” Tewell added.
Albarado stated she was leaving “Throwback Give Forward” feeling good about herself for having contributed to the students.
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what or who you give to,” she explained.
“You need to feel like you’re supporting something that you care about and that you’re passionate about and that’s what’s important,” Albarado said.
Claire Hickey can be contacted at chickey@kscequinox.com
