Class Gift Results for 2011
For the second year in a row, our class won the award for highest class
participation in annual giving. At the end of the donation year, June 30, 2011, 26 members of our Class had donated $16,876 to the
2011 Class Gift, short of our goal of
$25,000 but still sufficient to allow us to allocate $20,000 to defray the
tuition costs of the two Penn Charter students from the Class of 2014 whom
we are supporting. Read this year's
solicitation letter (February 2011) to learn about these students and about our
underlying class-gift philosophy. And see a status
report (September 2011) about their ninth-grade experiences.
Classmates who want to make donations may give
online via the
Penn
Charter website (click on "Alumni > Support PC" and then click on the
red doors). Identify your donation as part of the "Class of 1960
Gift." Alternatively, send checks payable to "William Penn Charter School"
to Jack Rogers, Chief Development Officer, William Penn Charter School, 3000
West School House Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19144. Write "Class of 1960" on the check.
On October 17, 2012, Penn Charter sent us the following status report
on the two students whom we are supporting:
"I am delighted to tell you about the two wonderful students that are
attending Penn Charter
thanks to the generosity of the Class of 1960. Last year, your class raised
$15,175 to support
these deserving kids. I cannot express in words how happy these students and
their families are
for them to have the opportunity to attend Penn Charter. The following is a
brief update on how
these eleventh graders are progressing:
"Jenna Torres is in her third year at Penn Charter and truly feels at
home in the community. Her
favorite subject is English, and she is the catcher on the softball team.
Clubs are important to
her, especially the Green Club and Diversity Discussion Group. While she is
exceptionally busy
with all of these pursuits, she still finds time to work part-time at
Chick-a-Fil and volunteer at
Philabundance. Jenna wants to major in communications or marketing and go on
to become a
sports journalist or broadcaster. She is one of the most respected and
well-liked members of her
class.
"While Tre Williams has taken some time to adjust to the high
expectations and academic rigor of
Penn Charter, his GPA is moving towards the honors level. His favorite
subject is history, and
he is an exceptional runner and potential Division One athlete. As a strong
member of our
superb Boys Cross Country Team and fifth place finisher in the mile at the
InterAc
Championship meet last spring, he is already being actively recruited. His
goals are to get a full
scholarship to college, major in pre-law, and possibly become a judge. Tre
has shown significant
growth in various areas during the past two years.
"We are grateful that the Class of 1960 has chosen to support these
students. These
children and our school will reap the benefits of your generosity for many
years to come. Thank
you so much for your kindness."
The Theme
 The
theme for our 50th Reunion gift was "Pay It Forward." Many students at Penn
Charter, now and in the future, could not attend the school if they did not
have financial aid. We dedicate our class gift to them. Our Class President
Al Swenson was the inspiration for this dedication, citing his experience
with his sons who could not have graduated from Penn Charter without PC's
financial support, provided by the Head of School without
fanfare or comment when the need became apparent.
Benjamin Franklin is
credited with the first articulation of the concept. Franklin wrote: "I do not
pretend to give such a sum; I only lend it to
you. When you meet another man in similar distress, you must pay me by
lending this sum to him, enjoining him to discharge the debt by a like
operation. This is a trick of mine for doing a deal of good with a little
money." Since Franklin's time, the concept of "pay it forward" has
lived on, most recently in the movie of the same name starring Kevin Spacey
and Helen Hunt.
The Goals
Like
Benjamin Franklin,
our class intends to do a great deal of good with a little money, or perhaps
more than that. Inspired by the fact that our Reunion broke the PC record for attendance at a
50th reunion, we set a goal to win next year's annual awards for classes more
than 25 years out who make the largest gift and who have the greatest
percentage of donors. The winning numbers in 2009 were $38,000 and 64%,
respectively.
To this end, three classmates committed to pool their funds to match
the first $500 of any gift. With this incentive, our goal was a class gift of
$45,000 with 100% participation.
We're
Number One! ... Twice!!
Our final total for our 50th Reunion was $44,900, and 38 classmates donated, making our class participation
75%. These results exceeded all other PC classes at least 25 years out, both in the total amount
and in the participation percentage. These twin accomplishments were
recognized by Penn Charter at a ceremony on February 3, 2011, at which Dick Berlinger represented our class and accepted both awards. Administration of the Fund
Penn Charter has agreed that our class will play an active role in
sponsoring the Penn Charter students who benefit from our class gift. A
committee of two classmates (initially, Jim Arrison and Sam Francis) will
meet with Penn Charter at the appropriate time each year to discuss how our
gift can be used most effectively in support of our "Pay It Forward"
objective. All classmates will be
informed annually of the disposition of our funds. Donations in future years
will be pooled with this year's class gift, to extend the life of the "Pay
It Forward" project. We are proud to be the first Penn Charter class to take
the initiative to manage our gift-giving in this way.
|
