Giving Tuesday transforms students’ lives
Worldwide movement that celebrates and inspires generosity and philanthropy is on Nov. 28
I often hear from the generous people in our community that they want to give to a cause they care about but they just don’t think they can make a real impact with the amount they can afford. I always tell them that even a modest gift can make a powerful difference — especially when it’s pooled with the gifts of others in a single, impactful day of giving. That’s why the New Mexico State University system began celebrating Giving Tuesday: To bring together caring people in our community and around the world to empower our students to take charge of their future.
We are thrilled to witness the collective impact of giving every day at NMSU, but Giving Tuesday stands out like no other, when hundreds of students’ lives are changed.
Giving Tuesday, taking place this year on Nov. 28, is a worldwide movement that celebrates and inspires generosity and philanthropy. We launched our first NMSU Giving Tuesday event on Dec. 1, 2015, and continued our momentum with our second event last November, which raised $2 million to benefit our students and programs across the NMSU system.
We’re already seeing the impact of the scholarships that were created during our first two Giving Tuesday events. Alexandria Claycomb is one recipient whose entire family benefitted from her scholarship. Alexandria, a junior from Albuquerque majoring in animal science, received a scholarship created in 2015 in memory of NMSU graduate Hannah Farbo, who passed away in November of that year.
The scholarship helped Alexandria’s family afford her tuition at a critical time, when her mother, Giovanna Eisberg, was also in school, working toward her Ph.D. Alexandria loves to tell people how she now gets to call her mom Dr. Eisberg.
Hannah’s parents, Brenda and D. Jay Farbo, said they chose to honor her with a scholarship in part because, if not for the generosity of so many people, Hannah might not have been able to attend college herself.
“She understood the importance of the scholarship awards and was always so surprised and grateful to receive the help,” Brenda Farbo said. “Without the scholarships, we knew we couldn’t foot the whole bill for her education, and the support lifted a huge burden.”
This year, as in the past, we’re focused on leveraging matching funds contributed by our gracious supporters to create as many endowed scholarships as possible, which can continue to be awarded for generations to come. Already, we’ve begun the establishment of more than 60 new scholarship endowments that will be finalized as part of this year’s event.
Many types of gifts from Aggie alumni and friends like you can also be matched to create an even more profound impact for our students. For example, the first $125,000 in gifts made online or in person on Giving Tuesday at the on-campus headquarters will be matched dollar-fordollar, up to $2,500 per household. And the first $10,000 in gifts from alumni who are making their first-ever charitable contribution to any department, program or scholarship in the NMSU system on Giving Tuesday will be matched dollarfor-dollar by NMSU Chancellor Garrey Carruthers and his wife, Kathy.
In addition, any contribution on Giving Tuesday to Aggie Cupboard, a food pantry that addresses food insecurity on three of our system’s campuses by providing students and staff members with nonperishable food items, will be matched by NMSU Provost Dan Howard and his wife, Jenifer Lichtenfels.
You can find out how you can make a gift that will be matched for double the impact on our website, support.nmsu. edu.
I would like to personally welcome you to our Giving Tuesday headquarters in the Corbett Center Student Union Aggie Lounge to experience the joy of this truly transformational event. We’ll be there from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Come be a part of the excitement, and help students across the NMSU system achieve their dreams of a world-class education and a better life!