| The first act of SisterLynk members was to create a scholarship in honor of Alice Conger Patterson, who was a mentor and friend to many of us when she was Dean of Continuing Studies at Salem College. She left the college in 2007 but continues to share her wisdom with the many graduates and current students she counseled while at the college.
The scholarship, established at The Winston-Salem Foundation, began funding scholarships in Fall 2008. The first recipient, Mandy Pelletier, was honored November 13 at our monthly SisterLynk meeting.
Inspirational Donations
It’s not surprising that donors who want to grow the Alice Conger Patterson Scholarship have been creative in how they grow their donations. These donors have known what it is like to be awarded scholarships, the honor of being a recipient, the help from the funds themselves. For Betty Dilda and her husband Jim helping to build the Patterson Scholarship was something they’ve done since its inception. They have usually made their gifts from their annual gifting budget. But they had another idea recently to be able to give even more. It came to them when they knew that their beloved twenty-year-old Saab, Rosie, needed to be replaced.
As Betty tells the story, “Rosie was purchased in Sweden and picked up in Volgeweigh, Germany on 7 Jan 1988. She became a member of our family the same day that our first grandchild was born. We named her Rosie because she was Rose Quartz in color. We drove her on a tour of Europe, even to East Germany, to a skiing trip to the Alps, to Italy, to pick up our new Bernese Mountain Dog in Switzerland, to Spain, Portugal, France, Amsterdam, and elsewhere. Our children learned to drive stick shift with Rosie.
“We drove her across the US twice and to Salem College for three years. She worked hard and earned 385,000 miles. When Jim decided to purchase a truck, he put her on the boat ramp and left her, saying all the while that he intended to sell her. To me it felt like a death, so I planned a wake. The children came from around the country, all sang funeral dirges and cried and recounted their memories. We put her to rest, we thought. However, someone noticed that Rosie was for sale and wanted her, even with all those miles; that someone bought her to restore her.”
The money from that sale coupled with some more added by Betty and Jim is helping to grow the Patterson Scholarship for the next applicants. What a great way to give! Thank you Betty and Jim Dilda.
Thinking about living simply and not continuing to accumulate “stuff” or “things” or “more,” Laurin Stroud had a special idea about how to celebrate her 50th birthday. She wanted to be surrounded by friends, but she didn’t want to be inundated by gifts. So, when Nancy David asked Laurin what she wanted for her birthday, Laurin said, “NO Gifts! . . . I don’t need any more stuff.”
Laurin and Nancy had both spent January de-cluttering (selling much on eBay and donating to Goodwill) after reading a Christmas gift, Does the Clutter Make my Butt Look Fat? : An Easy Plan for Losing Weight and Living More by Peter Walsh.
So, Nancy suggested that instead of gifts, friends might give to a charity in honor of Laurin, to which Laurin said, “I know, we could say that checks could be written to the Alice Conger Patterson Scholarship.” And, that is exactly what happened.
In designating that gifts go to the scholarship, Laurin was celebrating her own journey as an adult student who, like the recipients of the Patterson Scholarship, has been a winner of scholarships that have not only helped to pay her college bills but have also validated Laurin’s scholastic work.
For Laurin, pursuing higher education is a gift that she takes very seriously. Returning to school has been transformative; Laurin has gained confidence, knowledge, experience, a passion for learning, and many new friends. She feels that giving back is her way of helping other people returning to school to experience the gifts she has received.
In the week after the birthday party, Nancy and Laurin went to the Winston-Salem Foundation with all the birthday checks, totaling another large gift to the Patterson Scholarship. Now another woman will be helped with a scholarship, one that might make the difference in allowing the recipient to stay in school. Sisterlynk thanks Laurin and Nancy for their creative and inspiring donation.
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