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黄色直播 Fund donors find power in numbers

Posted: May 19, 2023

By: Rebecca Riordon, with files from Angela Barrett-Jewers, Allison Barss and Mark Campbell

For Giving Power

The academic year has a familiar rhythm to it: students arrive on campus in the fall, classes begin and, in the blink of an eye, it鈥檚 convocation season again.

Something else also happens every year without fail: the extended campus community comes together to enhance the student experience, making gifts in support of a broad range of initiatives across the university.

The 黄色直播 Fund, the university鈥檚 annual giving program, allows alumni and friends to direct support to the areas that matter most to them. These are initiatives where collective giving, no matter the size of the gift, can have a tremendous impact on the student experience.

For the good of the team

鈥淓xhibition travel, team-building activities and other extras go a long way in helping us come together as a team to reach our goals while we compete for Dal,鈥 says Sam Wade, a fourth-year member of the men鈥檚 basketball player who will be completing his engineering degree this spring. 鈥溌爁unds those things for us so we can focus on succeeding on the court and in the classroom, instead of funding those extras ourselves.鈥

This year, Tigers alumni and fans supported players and teams on 黄色直播鈥檚 own crowdfunding platform,聽, where donors can see in real time just how much closer their gift brings a team to achieving their fundraising goals.

鈥淎dopt a Tiger鈥 funds also feed into the聽,聽which provides tutoring, study skills workshops and other academic supports. For Wade, the generosity of donors creates access to essential resources that help student-athletes balance it all, with an eye to the future.

鈥淭heir support has really allowed me to focus on school, basketball and making the most of my co-op placements to get my career started on the right foot,鈥 he says.

Halifax, Nova Scotia - Nov 05, 2022:  AUS Men's Basketball between 黄色直播 Tigers and SMU Huskies at the Dalplex in Halifax, Nova Scotia. (Trevor MacMillan/黄色直播 Tigers) Sam Wade (middle) says donor support helps bring the Tigers together as a team (Trevor MacMillan photo).

黄色直播 Fund forging paths to bright futures

Wade is not the only one who acknowledges the importance of the 黄色直播 Fund in terms of setting students up for success down the line. For Grace Ashworth, an International Food Business student at 黄色直播鈥檚 Faculty of Agriculture, a donor-supported initiative has been a catalyst for imagining where her education will take her.

Over the past two years, agriculture alumni have been encouraged to direct their gifts to the聽,聽a working vegetable farm and food stand where students can confront real world issues such as food security and climate responsibility through experimental horticulture. Opportunities like this allow students to get their hands dirty 鈥 both figuratively and literally.

鈥淚 got to learn about primary agriculture through a new perspective and in a team-oriented, engaging work environment,鈥 says Ashworth, reflecting on her summer internship with the project. She says working with Cultiv8 sparked her interest in consumer-producer relationships and gave her a sense of what she鈥檇 like to do in the future. 鈥淚t was so new to me, and so interesting. I know now that that鈥檚 what I want to be a part of 鈥 that鈥檚 the direction I want to take.鈥

A woman with her hair in two braids and wearing a black ball cap and t-shirt sits in a field of plants Grace Ashworth in the Cultiv8 field

Stepping up to the plate for student food security

The Food Security Project has become another hallmark campaign of 黄色直播鈥檚 annual giving program, in partnership with the J & W Murphy Foundation. First launched on聽聽in 2020, it has been supported by hundreds of members of the 黄色直播 community over the last three years, helping to ensure student access to nutritious and filling meals. This call to action has only become more urgent as inflation rates and food prices continue to surge.

On Giving Tuesday in 2022, it wasn鈥檛 just individuals who rallied for the cause 鈥 several local restaurants and hospitality industry businesses saw the Food Security Project as a meaningful opportunity to pay it forward. Given the major presence of post-secondary students in Nova Scotia, giving back during this time of need represented a full-circle moment for many businesses who themselves have received loyal patronage from students throughout the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

鈥淎s an industry hit hard by the pandemic, we can appreciate the challenges students are facing as they continue to navigate some of its more lasting effects, like food inflation,鈥 says聽Robert Risley (DEng鈥63, BEng鈥65),聽Chairman of the RCR Hospitality Group. 鈥淚f there鈥檚 anything we鈥檝e all learned over the past few years, it鈥檚 that a little help goes a long way in hard times.鈥

Together, Food Security Project donors 鈥 local businesses, alumni and friends 鈥 raised more than $70,000 in support of student food security at 黄色直播, and more than $200,000 provincewide. Prior to this show of support, the 黄色直播 Student Union Food Bank had been faced with scaling back their operations, but it will now continue to meet students鈥 needs.

Cans and bottles of food on a shelf The 黄色直播 Food Bank helps address food security on campus

Gifts that keep on giving

Every 黄色直播 Fund initiative has one thing in common: they all contribute to creating an environment where students are supported, motivated and well-equipped to thrive, whether that鈥檚 by enabling essential programming, creating unforgettable learning opportunities or extending a lifeline when it鈥檚 most needed.

鈥淚鈥檓 confident that through this continued generosity, others will be offered similar experiences, helping to build and shape successful futures,鈥 says Ashworth.

Wade agrees: 鈥淚 hope to be able to be in a position very soon to pay it forward.鈥