Day of Giving: 24 hours of Loving Your State

by Tony Phifer | March 15, 2017 10:01 AM

[1]How much would you give if you knew your gift just might change a life – or several lives?

You’ll get the chance to make an impact Wednesday, April 19, on CSU’s third annual Love Your State Day of Giving. Students, faculty and staff, alumni and friends of the University will have the opportunity to support numerous funds, scholarships and programs during the 24-hour push for across-the-board excellence.

Generous Rams, amazing impact

If you need an example of impact, look no further than Josh Romero[2], who will graduate from CSU’s College of Natural Sciences in May. The 30-year-old Greeley native is a cancer survivor, husband and father, and determined student who has gone the extra mile –and then some – to earn a CSU degree in biochemistry.

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Romero, the first in his family to attend college, is determined to use education as a vehicle to change his life and the lives of others. He has applied to postgraduate programs so he can pursue a career as an oncologist and translational cancer researcher.

Scholarship support played a huge role in this success story.

“Scholarships have been integral for my completion of my degree,” Romero said. “As a first-generation, Hispanic college student who is also a father, I have to be meticulous about how I spend my time. Scholarships have made it possible for me to afford my college degree. Having the support of scholarships shows me that people believe in my ability to succeed, which can be a difficult mentality to maintain when a student is the first person in his family to journey through college.

“As a first-generation student I often feel like I am the lead bird in a flock of birds flying in a “V” formation. I am literally forging a new path for my family and am subject to the difficulties that come with doing so. Scholarships allow me to have financial support, moral support,and support in having additional resources (such as TRiO, Academic Advancement Center, etc.) to make the flight a little smoother.”

Lots of ways to show you Love Your State

One of the many scholarships funds being featured on Love Your State Day of Giving is the First Generation STEM Scholarship. With a matching grant from the Colorado Opportunity Scholarship Initiative, the scholarship aims to ensure that First Generation STEM students succeed, even when they pay full tuition. With a $50,000 fundraising goal in 2017 and 2018, the scholarship will support 50 upperclassmen STEM students with $4,000 scholarships.

[4]“Our CSU community of alumni, donors, faculty and staff, and students has shown time and time again how tremendously generous they are. The Love Your State Day of Giving is about our collective effort in a very short period of time to immediately impact CSU and the areas we are most passionate about,” said Brett Anderson, vice president for University Advancement. “Thank you to the extremely generous matching gift donors challenging us to do more to support the University that we love.”

[5]Each of CSU’s eight colleges, along with several campus entities like The Institute of Learning and Teaching, Athletics and the Alumni Association, have featured funds they are promoting – including several with matching grants. However, donors can support any fund they choose; you can find a list of funds here[6].

CSU hopes to have 3,000 donors by day’s end. Last year, 1,974 donations totaling $127,245 came in; donors provided 766 gifts in 2015 in the inaugural year for Love Your State Day of Giving.

Source URL: https://source.colostate.edu/day-giving-24-hours-loving-state/

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