Rowan University’s 10th annual Day of Giving commenced on Feb. 22. The event, which used to be known as RowanGIVES, continues to grow in the scope of its donations, with a total of $405,502 raised this year, more than $90,000, and 600 individual donations more than last year’s event. 

All members of the Rowan community were encouraged to donate through a gamified system on the Day of Giving Website. Through the donation link, donors were allowed to choose exactly where their funds went, with incentives provided to each school-affiliated organization to receive as many donations as possible. Many of these incentives included a donor match to unlock additional money, up to $20,000 in some cases. 

A live leaderboard was posted to track the flow of donations, of the 162 funds that were eligible for donations, the softball team’s fund had the most gifts raised at a total of 199 which unlocked two additional bonus gifts of $4,000, totaling an additional $8,000 for having the most individual gifts and the most dollars raised for a varsity athletic program. 

The SHOP, Rowan’s food pantry for students was able to unlock an additional $20,000 gift by having 100 or more donors. This comes at a pivotal time for the SHOP as it was recently announced that it would move locations from the Rowan Boulevard Apartments to the international house on 124 State St., a few hundred yards off campus.  

“It’s going to be a significantly bigger building, we’re going to have a lot more shelf space, we are planning on having a closet of professional clothing and a closet for new mothers, a lot more resources,” said Alexandria Kerr, a recent Rowan graduate who has been working for The SHOP since November. 

Kerr was tabling with fellow SHOP employee Grace Mulligan for the student center portion of the Day of Giving. A two-hour “donate-a-thon” was held in the Chamberlain Student Center from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on Thursday afternoon. It was a party-like environment with tables and representatives from many of the participating organizations advocating for their programs. 

“It will help get more supplies that we need [like a refrigerator and freezer] with such a bigger house and a bigger space,” said Mulligan on where some of the funds raised for the SHOP were going to go. 

While the concept of donating extra money to a school you are paying to attend may seem a bit foreign to some, the funds raised help to offset the cost for many, with thousands of dollars going specifically to scholarships like the Rowan fund or other college-specific scholarships. 

The money will go to improving the education of both current and future students. The Early Childhood Demonstration Center is a preschool here at Rowan that serves the children of Rowan students, many of whom are eligible for free or reduced tuition costs for their children to attend. The Day of Giving serves as the center’s only major fundraiser each year. 

“What’s super exciting is childcare is very expensive for parents, it’s very expensive especially if you are a student parent, [so] we offer discounts for college students as far as childcare tuition. We also work with college students across multiple disciplines who come to our center to complete assignments, they come to get real-life experience working with young children,” said Leah Walker, the director and lead teacher for the Early Childhood Demonstration Center. 

“We haven’t raised undergraduate [childcare] tuition prices in well over a decade, and even that’s difficult, right? So this really just helps us offset those costs,” said Walker. 

The official Day of Giving may have ended once the clock struck midnight on Thursday. But the donation window remains open year-round. Any prospective donors can still access the portal if they wish to contribute to a particular fund or organization.

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