So many questions fill our future Vandalâs minds as they embark on college. What do I want to study? Where will I live? Will I fit in? Can I handle it on my own? But one question is most often the deciding factor in whether to invest in oneself and take advantage of the significant increase in lifetime pay, happiness and health a college education offers: âCan I afford it?â Most of our hardworking Vandals receive some sort of financial assistance to attend college. Many receive scholarships â dollars you generously give to the university specifically to help students. In fact, the university awards more than $30 million annually in scholarships and tuition waivers. Much of the money is given by alumni who themselves were once at that crossroads of college decisions. April 6-7 you have the opportunity to help the next generation of Vandals fulfill their dreams. Vandal Giving Day is 2,021 minutes of giving â a fast-paced and fun way to engage in our future. Join us on your favorite social media channel or online at vandalsgive.uidaho.edu. Click through the hundreds of opportunities to support Vandals, find one that moves you and we hope you choose to give back. It can make all the difference for students like Robin Kerby. She and her husband moved into an RV in Post Falls to save money for Robin to rent an apartment in Moscow. She wanted to be a forester, but a degree seemed nearly unattainable. Quitting her job, Robin took a leap of faith â and it paid dividends in the fall. She made the Deanâs List and secured her continued scholarship support â which is paying her tuition and books as well as some living expenses. She is well on her way to fulfilling her Vandal dream, and it wouldnât have been possible without the support of generous donors. The unabashed support of our Vandal community shined last spring when Vandal Giving Day almost didnât happen. Stinging from the fresh reality of the pandemic, our students faced challenges to their educational path as jobs dried up, classes moved online and the world seemed to close in around them. Vandal Giving Day last year focused on one theme: helping students continue their educational journey. Unsurprisingly, the Vandal Family gave $649,000 to our students â then turned around in June and gave another $24,000 specifically to the Vandal Community Relief Fund. Thank you. While there is a light at the end of the COVID-19-tunnel, the path to a college education is still fraught with complications. Our students need you; your university needs you. Your participation can make a difference for a future Vandal. Letâs give our hardworking students the same opportunity to elevate themselves we had. |