PEA Community Gives Thanks to Donors

The fourth annual Thank-a-Donor Day took place last Friday, beginning with a morning assembly and extending throughout the day with stations in the two dining halls, Agora and the Academy Building. Both students and faculty were given the opportunity to thank donors of the Academy by writing hand-written, individualized notes.

This year’s celebration was set apart from those of previous years’ by the increased level of dedication. The Academy invited two alumni, Jessica George ’04 and David Walsh ’05 to speak in the first ever assembly that was fully devoted to Thank-a-Donor Day.

“I would not be anywhere close to this campus if it weren’t for all the generosity of our donors, and I feel really moved to write a sincere thank you.”

According to Assistant Director of Alumni and Parent Relations, Michelle Curtin, the alumni were brought back to show the community of Exeter to whom they were sending the hand-written cards and to “profile” who the donors were.

“This is our fourth annual Thank-a-Donor Day and a lot of the feedback we’ve gotten, because the notes are not personalized, had to do with people wondering who is it that we’re actually thanking,” Curtin said. “So Mr. Walsh and Ms. George are profiles of these alumni to whom the students and faculty will be writing today.”

In contacting the alumni and preparing for the day, the ESSO Giving Thanks Club, led by co-heads senior Sacharja Cunningham and upper Efeose Airewele, collaborated with a few members of the Institutional Advancement Office to make the 2015 Thank-a-Donor Day a huge success.

For the past three years, Giving Thanks had only shown one video at the end of each year’s winter dance assembly; however, this year, the club secured a full assembly and began to plan the event as far back as fall term. It finalized all the details of the day by the end of winter term.

As part of the preparation for the Thank-a-Donor Day assembly, Giving Thanks thought about potential profiles of the alumni it wanted to highlight. Soon afterwards, the club informed Curtin that it would be appreciated if they chose speakers who had recently graduated and have been donating ever since their commencement.

Fortunately, via prior interactions with volunteer alumni, Curtin had been in contact with two young donors, namely George and Walsh. “I worked with the Giving Thanks club to come up with the profiles of the people they wanted to see come back. I also knew Mr. Walsh and Ms. George based on their philanthropy to the Academy and their volunteerism,” Curtin said. “Once the Giving Thanks club decided the types of people they wanted to have come back, I immediately thought of Ms. George and Mr. Walsh.”

Both George and Walsh appreciated Curtin’s request, and after sorting out logistical issues such as traveling for Walsh and getting out of work for a day for George, both accepted the invitation to speak and to participate in the Academy’s Thank-a-Donor day. “I have served Exeter in many capacities since graduating in 2005, and my approach has always been the same…. If I ever find myself in a situation where I can give my time, energy or money to a cause that Exeter endorses, then I make every effort possible to do so,” Walsh said. “It was a honor for me to be invited back to campus and speak at Assembly.”

According to Curtin, Thank-a-Donor Day had two major goals, which both Walsh and George assisted in accomplishing. The first goal was to educate the Exeter community about the impact that philanthropy has on the “Exeter experience.” As Airewele and Cunningham addressed during the assembly, 61 percent of the “Exeter experience” is funded by donor support. The second goal was to allow students and faculty to participate in thanking these donors in a personal way by sending hand-written notes.

Several current students, because of Thank-a-Donor Day, were able to express their appreciation of the support that they have received because of Academy benefactors. “I think Thank-a-Donor Day is a fantastic way to take a step back and appreciate all that we have access to and the amazing opportunities that have been made available to us,” senior Luis Verdi said. “For me personally, I would not be anywhere close to this campus if it weren’t for all the generosity of our donors, and I feel really moved to write a sincere thank you.”

Cunningham used the phrase “super successful” to describe the outcome of the day. “The assembly flowed smoothly and whenever I passed the note writing stations around campus, there were Exonians, faculty and staff giving thanks,” Cunningham said. “I don’t recall there being any difficulties, and I’m definitely grateful for that.”

Airewele had similar sentiments. “Overall, I think it went very well. I think having alums come speak at Assembly was very impactful and helped take away from the image that most students see donors as: the monopoly type old guy with a top hat,” she said.

With the great success of this year’s Thank-a-Donor Day, Curtin hopes that the mission of educating the Exeter community and allowing the community to give back will continue for years to come. “I hope we continue to educate the community about the the long standing tradition and impact that philanthropy has on Exeter, not only on the education and the people who learn here, but also on the people who work and live here,” she said.