Whether it’s a small donation or a thoughtful gift, everybody has an opportunity to give back to their community. From 9 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23 to 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 24, Maclay School hosted their third annual 24- hour long Giving Day, to raise money for the Maclay Fund.
Giving day is a day of giving back, organized by the Advancement Office, that celebrates the school’s community and brings everyone on campus together. It gives the community an opportunity to share what they love about Maclay, support a project on campus that is meaningful to them, connect with an alumni or teacher and celebrate the school.
“The most exciting part about Giving Day for me is seeing the many people that come together and really get excited on their own about what’s going on, on campus,” Advancement Officer and Giving Day organizer Morgan Lewis said. “About what our teachers are doing, what our faculty are doing and the great projects that our students are involved in.”
Giving Day is an event that supports the Maclay Fund. More specifically, this year’s Giving Day focuses were raising money for the expansion of Fine Arts, Faculty Endowment, the Maclay Community Care Fund, the Curriculum Extension Fund and improvements to the weight room.
“We love the idea of a Giving Day for several different reasons,” Advancement Officer and Giving Day organizer Ellen Agrella said. “One of which is just the virtual component. And so, we love the fact that anyone, wherever they are, however they like to engage, there’s sort of a way for them to participate. So you can be on the other side of the world or here on campus with us, and there’s sort of a way for you to engage whether that be a project or just writing what you love about Maclay.”
One of the main focuses of this year’s Giving Day was making improvements to the weight room, such as brand new equipment and professional development opportunities.
“I hope that we get more funds to support Olympic weightlifting so that our girl’s weightlifting team can bring more people to state,” sophomore Bella Feijoo said.
The theme of this year’s Giving Day is “Show Your Love for Maclay.” As well as the fundraising, another aspect of Giving Day that incorporated the theme was the Sweetheart articles written about significant relationships on campus that were shared with the Maclay community through social media.
“It’s cool to see how much Maclay has changed, but also how much like the core group and love is still here,” Alumni and Advancement Officer Carol Frances Shaw said. “And that there is a lot of love to share, and this day, we didn’t have it when I was in high school. But it’s cool that this day actually reminds everybody of the love and of the connection that everybody has, and there are so many alums [alumni] that have kids here and such a legacy that it leaves and it’s just a highlight and reminder, which is awesome.”
The overall point of Giving Day is to create opportunities for everyone to give back, raise money to improve the school as a whole and bring the community together. As of Sunday Feb. 26, $80,150 was raised.
“[The community can help by] I think just spreading the word,” Shaw said. “And it doesn’t have to be an actual donation. Just spreading the word and sharing stories and just like maybe sharing something on social media about what you really love about Maclay.”
