In an effort to inform students about philanthropy and the influence it has at UNH, University Advancement and the UNH Student Alumni Network hosted its first Philanthropy Day.
The goal behind Philanthropy Day on Tuesday, April 18, was to make students aware of the opportunities that students have due to the generous donations of alumni and donors around the area. This was shown through the various events around campus on Tuesday afternoon held by University Advancement, such as writing thank you postcards to donors, Pay it Forward chocolate boxes, Tag Day and hosting an ice cream truck on the Great Lawn.
Tag Day marked the various buildings on campus that are here because of donations to show students the impact donors’ contributions make. Buildings such as the Field House, Dimond Library, Paul College of Business and Economics and Kingsbury Hall.
“The goal behind Tag Day is to make students aware of what spaces exist solely because of donor funds,” assistant director of student engagement for alumni relations, Megan Brunelle, said.
The main slogan of the day throughout the various events was “Supporting the welfare of others.”
According to Brunelle, student relations engagement for alumni relations wanted students to be aware of others in need, both monetary and kindness-wise, creating the motive behind the chocolate boxes.
The box, which contained two Hershey’s Kisses, designated one for the receiver and one that was meant to be given to another person. Through this, students would grasp the idea of giving and how important it was to give rather than receive.
“We just want to raise awareness of what philanthropy means, why it’s important and why students should pay attention to it,” Brunelle said. “We really want to build that over the four years with students so they understand what money is going to and why we’re raising money for the university.”
Brunelle did not specify the turnout for Tuesday’s events, but the ice cream truck line had up to 50 people at some points. In order to receive ice cream, students had to answer a trivia question about philanthropy and its connection to UNH.
