On Valley Gives Day 2018, supporters of the school helped us achieve something remarkable.
- In just 24 hours, 95 donors — 16 of whom are first-time donors to the Conway School — contributed $21,200 that will help provide more scholarship funds for students, subsidize more planning and design projects for the communities and organizations who most need Conway’s design services, and support lectures and field work sessions led by expert professionals and practitioners throughout the year.
- Of the $21,200, the $12,500 we received in online donations ranked us #16 out of 408 participating organizations (and #5 in Hampshire County).
- In addition, we succeeded in meeting all four of our challenges and matches: Stephen Thor Johnson’s $2,000 match; Peg Read’s (Class of ’79) $1,000 match; and two $1,000 challenges provided by anonymous donors. By helping us meet (and surpass) all of these matches, donors qualified us to be entered into a raffle to win a “matchmaker” grant from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, which we won, for an additional $2,000!
This incredible outpouring of support exceeded our original goal for the day by 183%. To put this into perspective, the total amount raised is the equivalent of the full fee for 3 winter or spring community projects; a $1,178 per-student increase in financial aid for a full class of 18 students; or all of the project fees for 18 fall projects and the entire budget for a year of guest lectures and Friday fieldwork trips.
Last Friday, members of the Class of 2018 spent the day with renowned trail designer and builder Peter Jensen (at far left). Throughout the year, visits from Peter and other expert professionals and practitioners are made possible by contributions from friends and alums of the school. Photo: Dave Weber ’15Valley Gives 2018: Donors to the Conway School
We would like to extend heartfelt thanks to the donors listed below for their generosity last Tuesday.
| Susanna Adams ’78 Bird Anderson Randall Anderson Oliver & Molly Ankiewicz Anonymous (20) Mollie Babize ’84 Kirsten Baringer ’04 Beth Batchelder ’15 Jeanne Bird Ken Botnick ’79 and Karen Werner Nancy Braxton Molly Burhans ’15 Anne Capra ’00 Michele Carlson ’14 Willa Caughey ’14 Kate Cholakis ’11 Jordan Clark ’15 David Coleman ’78 Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts Lucy Conley ’16 Carla Cooke ’92 Kerri Culhane ’10 Esther L. Danielson ’94 Ramona N. Davis Steven Dinkelaker & Ruah Donnelly | Mark Edelman ’73 J. Nicholas Filler Marcia Fischer ’96 Elizabeth Fribush ’81 Ellen & Bill Giduz David Holden ’76 & Marcia Holden James Jensen ’78 Liz Kelly ’14 Polina Kislyuk Claudia Kopkowski ’88 CJ Lammers William Lattrell John C. Lepore ’11, Future Lands Designs, LLC Ahron Lerman ’11 Rachel Lindsay ’15 Rie Macchiarolo ’14 Carrie Makover ’86 Robert & Gladys Miner Andrea Morgante ’76 Adam Novitt Philomena Novitt Priscilla Novitt ’07 Kate O’Brien ’15 John O’Keefe Peter M. Owens ’83 Robbin Peach ’78 | Amanda Pebler ’18 Jamie Pottern ’12 Mary Quigley William C. Richter ’77 Benjamin Rippe ’17 Keith Ross Joel Russell Associates Chuck Schnell, ’01 Katherine Schreiber ’80 Theresa Sprague ’08 Bruce Stedman ’78 Dale Stedman Peter & Susan Van Buren ’82 Michele VanLandingham Liz Vizza ’82 Abbie von Schlegell Donald L. Walker, Jr. ’79 George Watkins ’77 Amy Weber Dave Weber ’15 Eric Weber ’77 Jenna Webster ’09 Cary White ’15 Elaine Williamson ’11 Andrew Young Bobbin Young |
We loved hearing from supporters throughout the day. Here are just a few of the comments people shared:
- “It is impossible to put a value on the extraordinary educational experience that the Conway School gives each student. To say it is life changing, edifying, and like coming home to what’s truly important in life, would be the tip of the iceberg! Those of us who have been lucky enough to attend, all know this.” — Peg Read ’79
- “Two weeks ago we had 15″ of snow and a city wide snow day – yesterday it was 87 degrees in Minneapolis. The world needs more Conway educated thinkers, problem solvers, change agents and stewards of our rapidly changing earth.” — Rachel Bird Anderson
- “Conway provides students with the tools and confidence to solve real-world problems. It’s actively producing designers who are ready and eager to make the world a better place, and who have a solid foundation to do so.” – Ben Rippe ’17
- “I’m proud to give because, as an alum, I believe in the deep nature of this work and training the next generation of ecological designers who can tackle some of our world’s most complex problems.” – Liz Kelly ’14
