Senior Class Committee reaches fundraising goal with $15,000 scholarship

Samantha Weber, Staff writer

The Senior Class Committee has announced that they have reached their goal of $15,000. Currently, the committee has raised $15,676.

“We have knocked it out of the park with fundraising this year, and in the spirit of baseball player Kenny Robinson, I really feel that we have hit a home run on this goal,” said Marina Boyle, chair of the Senior Class Gift Committee.

The committee has had to adapt their fundraisers this year due to COVID. “We’ve had to be creative and do a lot of different fundraisers virtually to keep people involved,” said Claire Orr, PR chair for the Committee. “We have done everything from a growler sale, goodie bag sale and the Senior Date Auction, to cookie sales. We’ve also relied heavily on generous donations from many people and organizations on campus, including SAAC.”

In addition to the financial goal that was set, the committee also had another goal in mind. The committee wanted to have at least 25 percent of their class members contribute to the Class of 2021 gift. This goal has also been met. Although, the year is not over yet, so there are still options for people to donate. There was a pop-up vintage clothing store on April 15 and 16 in which 20 percent of revenue from the event was donated to the gift.

The last large event is the Campus Crawl on May 7 at 6:30 p.m. While the crawl will not look like it has in previous years, the committee has adapted it to make it COVID friendly. Everyone who registers for the event will receive a free shirt and four drinks throughout the night. They can walk around campus with friends and try the different drinks located at stands around campus. Even though the original financial goal has been met, they are still accepting donations until the presentation of the check at 2 p.m. on May 14, the first day of graduation weekend. The Class of 2021 Senior Class Gift Committee is presenting the check-in Christ the King Chapel to Interim President Joe NeCastro.

This year the presentation of the check will look a little different, as there will be two ceremonies and two different checks presented. Due to COVID-19 sending the Class of 2020 home early, they were unable to properly present their check last spring. But, this year, the Class of 2020 Committee is invited back to present their check on May 14 at 1 p.m. There is still time left for anyone who wants to donate to do so.

“The more money we raise, the more Lakers we can support with this gift in future years. There is also time for anyone from the Class of 2021 to become a top donor and receive a philanthropy cord for graduation. Anyone can make a gift online if they would still like to get involved. We also look forward to seeing everyone at the Campus Crawl on May 7, which will be our final big event,” said Boyle.

The Mercyhurst community is proud of the Senior Class Gift Committee and all their accomplishments this year. Thank you to those who donated!