Jake Bartlett, BBA, Pre-Physician Assistant, 2017
May 2nd marked a very exciting and rewarding day for not only myself and everyone in the class but for the organizations receiving grants! In the midst of studying for finals and feelings of anxiety and stress it was a blessing to be able to see God’s hand in full work as we presented such selfless organizations various grants so that they would be able to go forth and continue to give well and do good.
The afternoon began promptly at 12:45 as we all met in the Presidential Suite at McLane Stadium, we welcomed each of our guests and mingled with one another, thanking them for being with us and expressing our gratitude toward them for all that they do in the community. Along with the fun chatting that was going on, I can’t forget to mention the star of the afternoon… the s’mores station! As the afternoon proceeded, our guests took their seats and we began the presentations. Andy gave a brief synopsis of what philanthropy means, the hard decisions we had to make to get to this point, how deserving each organization is of the grant they are receiving and the transformation he has seen in each of us throughout this amazing process. Following Andy’s speech was Mr. Perlowski who spoke on behalf of Aramark, a generous donor to the class. Shannon Foy, a fellow classmate then took to the mic as she told the story of the class, from the research we did at the beginning of the semester, pitch day and meeting all the organizations, our individual site visits and the collaboration that occurred between several groups to put our $30,000 into one bucket and divide that sum among the organizations we wished to give grants to.
And then the fun part began, the presentation of the big checks to the well deserving organizations. One by one each organization was introduced to the crowd and brief synopsis of their work was described. We posed for pictures to commemorate the beautiful moments that were occurring and grinned from ear to ear in excitement for the future of these organizations and for the people they serve.
As the afternoon’s presentations came to a close and our guests left, it was both exciting to know that we have each developed a clear sense of what it means to be a philanthropist but it was also sad to think that our time in this class was coming to an end. So to end this blog I would just like to say thank you first to each organization for all that you have done and will continue to do for the community, secondly to each of my classmates, you all made this semester one to remember and thanks to everyone’s collaboration we impacted the lives of so many people, and lastly I would like to give a special thank you to Andy Hogue who inspired us each and every day to be better philanthropic leaders and to learn how to truly give well and do good.
Philanthropy Lab class grants Ð check presentation Ð grant recipients Ð PresidentÕs suite Ð McLane Stadium Ð The Advocacy Center Ð Take Heart Ministries Ð Unbound Ð AVANCE Ð Good Neighbor Settlement House Ð R Labs Ð Caritas Ð Compassion Ministries Ð Nurse-Family Partnership Ð Waco Hispanic Museum Ð Creative Waco Ð REACH Therapeutic Riding Center Ð 05/02/2017