Trinity-Pawling’s recent “Stretch with Stretch” Giving Challenge was a great success, both in terms of funds raised and increased participation. Alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students, and friends stepped up to the plate and truly stretched for Trinity-Pawling!
This year’s Challenge kicked off on April 16th, after esteemed alumnus and former Board president, Robert M. “Stretch” Gardiner ’40, made an offer: reach 1,000 donors in three weeks and he would gift the School $100,000!
Class agents, parent volunteers, faculty, and students all participated in building the excitement. A life-size 6’7” Stretch cut-out even roamed around campus so that everyone could pose and tell the world, “I stretched with Stretch!”
In a fortuitous coincidence, the last day of the Challenge fell during the Board of Trustees meeting. Alumni and trustees Tom Ahrensfeld ’73 and Philip Norkeliunas ’89 both offered generous incentives that couldn’t be passed up! Their challenges were met with much enthusiasm by fellow trustees, alumni, and parents alike and at 11pm on Friday, May 4th, we reached our goal with a gift from 1,000th donor John Turner ’56!
Overall, it was a highly-memorable and fun three weeks, all for the benefit of Trinity-Pawling. How fortunate we are to have such a supportive community! Many, many thanks to everyone who participated, and especially to Stretch Gardiner ‘40 — who stretched well above his original $100,000 gift — and to Tom Ahrensfeld ‘73 and Philip Norkeliunas ‘89 for making it all possible. We started with the promise of $100,000…and ended up raising close to $400,000 for the School!
If you missed out on contributing during the Challenge, there is still time to make your donation this fiscal year. We are close to our overall Trinity-Pawling Fund goal, but still need your support before June 30, 2018!
Each and every gift makes a difference for the School and its community. Find your giving options at www.trinitypawling.org/giving