Seeks 225 donors to unlock $350,000 in challenge funds
Vermont Business Magazine Marlboro College has announced Sugar Rush 2019, an Annual Fund challenge celebrating the sugaring season and culminating with a sugar-on-snow event on April 3. With a total goal of reaching 225 donors, the college stands to unlock $350,000 in challenge funds donated by generous trustees and friends.
“We are really putting the ‘fun’ into fundraising with this campaign,” said Rennie Washburn, director of advancement at Marlboro. “The snow is melting, the birds are singing—oh wait, it’s snowing again—you get the idea; it’s spring in Vermont. The maple trees are tapped, the sap is running, and we take that as a good omen that there are sweet things in our future.”
All Sugar Rush donors will receive a bumper sticker reading “Varsity Maple Sugaring Team,” and gifts of $500 or more will earn donors the choice of a limited edition tee-shirt or a glass maple leaf bottle of Vermont maple syrup. But most important, each person who makes a donation gets Marlboro a step closer to unlocking the challenge funds: every drop counts.
“At a time when many small, liberal arts colleges are facing challenges, even closing, I find it heartening that Marlboro is able to focus on the fundamentals of raising their Annual Fund with fun and grace,” said Kevin Quigley, president of Marlboro. “It is also significant that our generous supporters are confident enough in Marlboro’s future to make the $350,000 in challenge funds a reality.”
Those interested in learning more are encouraged to go to marlboro.edu/sugarrush, and follow the progress in donations at facebook.com/marlborocollege. If friends and neighbors are interested in partaking in the celebratory sugar-on-snow (actually on-shaved-ice to ensure availability), they can join other community members outside the Marlboro College dining hall on April 3, between 1:00 and 2:30pm.
Marlboro College
Located in the foothills of Vermont’s Green Mountains, Marlboro College provides independent thinkers with exceptional opportunities to broaden their intellectual horizons, benefit from a small and close-knit learning community, create a strong framework for personal and career fulfillment, and make a positive difference in the world. At our campus in Marlboro, Vermont, students engage in deep exploration of their interests—and discover new avenues for using their skills to benefit themselves and others—in an atmosphere that emphasizes critical and creative thinking, independence, social justice, sustainability, and community.
Source: MARLBORO, VT – (April 1, 2019) – Marlboro College