Emory University's School of Nursing Surpasses $20 Million Fundraising Goal - Campaign Continues

Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing has exceeded its $20 million fundraising goal nearly two years ahead of schedule. To date, the School of Nursing has raised more than $20.4 million to support student scholarships, faculty research, service learning projects, and academic programming.

Emory trustee Dr. J. David Allen and his wife Beverly Dew Allen (Class of ‘68C), both Emory alumni, are proud to be leading the fundraising efforts as chairs of the School of Nursing’s campaign. “To have early success is thrilling, but more than anything it is a call to continue our work. Nearly 80 percent of our students need financial aid to pursue an Emory nursing degree. As long as there are initiatives in the School of Nursing that need additional resources — and there are — we have a job to do,” says Dr. Allen.

“This fundraising milestone is a reflection of the School of Nursing’s upward trajectory as an internationally recognized nursing program,” said Linda McCauley, PhD, RN, FAAN, dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing. “We are immensely grateful to our extraordinary donors whose gifts are having a meaningful impact on the School of Nursing. Because of generous support from these donors, the school is able to invest in key strategic priorities that advance our mission to educate nurse leaders and scholars, generate new knowledge, and improve health and health care—all in service to the global community.”

The School of Nursing’s fundraising success is tied to broad-based support from more than 3,000 individuals, corporations, and foundations.

Since the launch of the campaign in 2005, the School of Nursing has attained a number of notable accomplishments:

Increased the Fuld Segue Program, which provides critical financial aid to Emory nursing students with undergraduate degrees in fields other than nursing who want to become nursing leaders. This program was created with generous support from the Helene Fuld Health Trust;
Received an $8.1 million grant—the largest donation in the nursing school’s 106-year history—from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for a 2 ½ year project designed to improve maternal and newborn survival rates in rural Ethiopia. This historic donation has enabled Associate Professor Lynn Sibley and a team of Emory investigators to create a community-oriented strategy to improve maternal and newborn health care services in rural Ethiopia and position the approach to be expanded throughout the country; and
Raised $100,000 from 265 alumni and friends to create the Elizabeth Mabry Scholarship in honor of longtime faculty member, Elizabeth Mabry. This scholarship provides aid to deserving undergraduate students each year.

“We deeply appreciate the overwhelming support of our alumni, faculty, staff, students and friends,” says Amy Dorrill, associate dean of development and alumni relations for the nursing school. “We also continue to count on their generosity, because although we have reached our overall fundraising goal in terms of numbers, some of our most important priorities—including student scholarships, faculty support, and service learning programs—still are not fully funded. As the School of Nursing continues to seek support for these initiatives, we look to private philanthropy to fuel our work and advance Emory’s legacy of excellence in nursing education and research.”

The School of Nursing’s fundraising campaign is part of Campaign Emory, a $1.6 billion fundraising endeavor that combines private support and Emory’s people, places, and programs to make a powerful contribution to the world. Campaign Emory is the largest and most successful fundraising campaign in Georgia.


-----
Community News You Can Use
Click to read MORE news:
www.GeorgiaFrontPage.com
Twitter: @gafrontpage & @TheGATable @HookedonHistory
www.ArtsAcrossGeorgia.com
Twitter: @artsacrossga, @softnblue, @RimbomboAAG @FayetteFP

Special Olympics Georgia Launches Project UNIFY Initiative to Energize Youth

PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Special Olympics Georgia (SOGA) received $60,000 in funding to support the overall outreach initiative of the organization as part of Special Olympics' new national program, Project UNIFY.

Project UNIFY is a year-long project to activate young people across the country in an effort to promote school communities where all young people are agents of change -- fostering respect, dignity and advocacy for people with intellectual disabilities. Special Olympics believes through sports young people can make a difference in friendships, schools and communities.

Project UNIFY promotes a cultural shift and positions Special Olympics as a leading cause among youth -- as important, not just "nice," and as relevant to each of us, not just for "them." In addition, Project UNIFY leadership activities will help develop the next generation of leaders and advocates for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

"This project is an excellent opportunity for our Programs to get directly involved in a grass-roots effort to increase the number of Special Olympics opportunities for youth with and without intellectual disabilities, while increasing the number of state-wide sustained Special Olympics partnerships with schools," said Bob Gobrecht, Special Olympics North America Managing Director. "The need for programs like the ones Special Olympics offers that encourage positive school climates with safe and nurturing environments for all students is clear, especially in light of how inappropriate and discriminatory words and actions are becoming more and more common in our society."

Special Olympics Programs throughout the United States were invited to apply for funds to implement Project UNIFY activities that meet the initiative's objectives through a competitive grant process. Special Olympics Georgia will use their funding to support the Young Athletes, Get Into It, Unified and Traditional sports programs.

All of these initiatives will attract children and adults with intellectual disabilities into the Special Olympics program. "Our goal is to make all eligible individuals aware of the many year-round ways to get involved in our sports training and competition programs throughout the state," said SOGA CEO Georgia Milton-Sheats.

Project UNIFY was made possible by $4.4 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education pursuant to fiscal 2008 appropriations under the authority of HR5131, "The Special Olympics Sport and Empowerment Act," and the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" which Special Olympics International received in June 2008.

To kick off Project UNIFY, 17 young people from across the country, aged 14-20, with and without intellectual disabilities, assembled in Washington, D.C., on 18-20 September for the first meeting of Project UNIFY's Youth Advisory Committee (YAC). The committee met during the Department of Education's 2008 Global Summit on Education, the theme of which was "Inclusive Practices for Students with Disabilities."

In addition to forming the Youth Advisory Committee, other overall Project UNIFY goals include promoting the Special Olympics "R-word" campaign, implementing a U.S. Special Olympics grant process for local Special Olympics Programs, hosting a Global Youth Congress as part of the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games, and participating in national forums and conferences on intellectual disabilities and education.

-----

www.fayettefrontpage.com
Fayette Front Page
Community News You Can Use
Fayetteville, Peachtree City Tyrone
www.georgiafrontpage.com
Georgia Front Page