Mardi Gras Winter Gala: To the finish line

Sean Duval, the foundation committee chair, welcomes the gala attendees. Last year, the Foundation gala event raised about $200,000, Duval said. Sara Faraj | Washtenaw Voice

Lilly Kujawski
Editor

The Mardi Gras Winter Gala may be their flashiest event, but it’s only a small part of the WCC Foundation’s bigger impact.

Last year, the foundation awarded 1,146 scholarships to students on the combined basis of financial need and merit, according to Phillip Snyder, associate vice president of college advancement.

Besides the annually awarded scholarships, the foundation has, in the last few years, created the Student Emergency Fund, which is a one-time grant of up to $500 that can help students with unexpected financial crises, such as food insecurity, transportation and housing issues and medical expenses, Snyder said.

“We’ve found that helping students overcome these relatively small issues is helping them to stay in school, and help drive them to the finish line,” added Sean Duval, the foundation committee chair.

When students apply and receive the grant, the funds generally go through very quickly, sometimes in just 24 hours. The awarded funds are paid directly to wherever the student needs them, Snyder said.

Last June, the foundation also started the “Finish Line” scholarship.

“We’re reaching out to students who have completed over 75 percent of their school but left us for financial reasons and couldn’t finish,” Snyder said, “We reached out to them and said ‘come back, we’ll pay you to complete.’”

According to Duval, the best way to help people is often by meeting them where they are. He added that “sometimes it’s holding their hand and sometimes it’s getting out of their way.”

While the majority of foundation funds comes from endowments, the Winter Gala is the biggest fundraiser event of the year. Last year, it raised about $200,000, Duval said. He added that money raised from the gala is the “best kind of fundraising” because it can be used towards the needs of the students as “unrestricted dollars based on need and priority.”

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