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50 Years of College and Career Access Innovation: Our Earliest Funders of Record
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As we celebrate 50 years of service this year, we can't help but look back and marvel at how far we have come from our humble beginnings. We are also awash with sentiment as we think about the generous people and philanthropic organizations whose impactful financial gifts made our first year of service as an incorporated non-profit organization in 1967 possible.
That year, six forward-thinking foundations donated $16,150 to College Now (then the Cleveland Scholarship Program); that is equivalent to $118,000 in today's dollars. This funding helped launch the pioneering work of helping Cleveland's public school students gain access to college, and we are eternally grateful!
These earliest foundation funders of record are:
- Shirley & Robert C. Coplan Family Fund: $1,500 (equals $11,000 today)
- The Benjamin S. Gerson Family Foundation: $250 (equals $1,800 today)
- The George Gund Foundation: $7,500 (equals $55,000 today)
- The Hankins Foundation: $2,500 (equals $18,000 today)
- Kate Ireland Foundation: $2,400 (equals $17,500 today)
- The Perkins Charitable Foundation: $2,000 (equals $14,600 today)
We commend and thank these funders for their faith in our fledgling program in 1967 and for their ongoing generosity, leadership and tenacity; during the last 50 years, these six philanthropic organizations have contributed an astonishing combined total of $7.6 million.
We look forward to sharing stories about these and other valued funding partners in coming editions.
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Bag Lady Luncheon Raises Funds to Support Scholarship and Retention Services
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Top Left: Bag Lady Keynote Speaker, Dee Haslam;
Top Right: Bag Lady Co-Chairs Rita Andolsen and Trina Evans with College Now CEO Lee Friedman;
Bottom Left: A sampling of the over 500 silent auction items;
Bottom Right: College Now Board Member and Bag Lady emcee, Russ Mitchell
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Wow - it's hard to believe that, after two years of planning and excitement, the Bag Lady Luncheon has come and gone! More than 900 guests joined us for our third Bag Lady Luncheon and helped us launch College Now's 50th Anniversary celebration.
As a result of the community's generosity, through the silent auction, live auction, raffle ticket sales, Dollars for Scholars donations, sponsorships and ticket sales, we had the best Bag Lady Luncheon ever, exceeding what we raised in 2015 by over $100,000!
We truly could not have achieved such a feat without all of you.
Thank you to our co-chairs, Rita Andolsen, Micki Byrnes and Trina Evans; to our host committee; and to everyone who donated auction items or held a collection party. And special thanks go to our keynote speaker, Dee Haslam; our luncheon emcee, Russ Mitchell; and our auctioneer, Mark Schroeder.
Thank you, again, Northeast Ohio, for your generosity, and we look forward to seeing you in 2019 at the next Bag Lady Luncheon!
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FAFSA Season is Here Again
It's that time of year again - as of October 1
st
, the 2018/2019 FAFSA is officially open!
As you know, getting your FAFSA application in as soon as possible could mean the difference between receiving the full amount of federal, state and institutional aid for which you are eligible and losing out on some of that money, so plan on getting your application done as soon as you can! Whether you are in school, or know someone who is, here's what you need to know.
In order to be ready to complete your FAFSA, plan on having the following information on hand:
- Student's and student's parents' Social Security Numbers
- Student's Alien Registration Number (if not a U.S. citizen)
- Student's and student's parents' federal income tax returns, W-2s and other records of money earned in 2016. (Note: You should be able to transfer your federal tax return information into your FAFSA using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool.)
- Records of untaxed income (if applicable)
- Student's and student's parents' FSA ID to sign electronically
Head to https://fafsa.ed.gov/
and select "Login" using the FSA ID you have used in previous years to log into your FAFSA account and access your 2018/2019 application.
Remember that the FAFSA form is FREE!! If you end up at a website that is asking you to pay to fill out your FAFSA, you are NOT on the official FAFSA page. If you would like help filling out your FAFSA, feel free to visit the College Now Resource Center on the third floor of Tower City. Walk-in hours are from 11am - 2pm Monday through Friday or you can make an appointment by calling 216-635-0151.
For further assistance, check out the
Filling Out the FAFSA help page
or contact the Financial Aid office at the student's school.
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ICYMI: John King Forum at The City Club
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| Top Left: College Now Board Chair, Alan Kopit, welcomes the audience; Top Right: John B. King, CEO of The Education Trust, talks about inequity in education in the U.S.; Bottom Left: Over 200 attendees attended the City Club Forum with John B. King; Bottom Right: John B. King meets with students after the Forum. |
College Now launched its 50th Anniversary speaker series at
The City Club last week with a forum featuring John B. King, CEO of
The Education Trust and former Secretary of Education under President Obama. He gave an excellent speech about inequity in the U.S. education system and made a case for how the Every Student Succeeds Act works to address that inequity.
In case you missed it, click
here to watch the Forum in its entirety.
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