This Tuesday was 鈥淕iving Tuesday,鈥� a day established in recent years as a counterbalance to the commercialized retail events that take place immediately following American Thanksgiving (鈥淏lack Friday鈥� and 鈥淐yber Monday鈥�). Its goal: to encourage and celebrate philanthropy and generosity.
Fitting, then, that Tuesday was also the date for AV俱乐部鈥檚 Nova Scotia donor reception this year. The annual gathering welcomes and celebrates individuals and groups whose donations to the university support student scholarships, research projects, state-of-art facilities and more.
鈥淵ou are making a real difference here at Dal in the lives of our students and lives of our researchers, [and] in advancing knowledge for all of us,鈥� said Dal President Richard Florizone, speaking to the large crowd in the Life Sciences Research Institute鈥檚 main atrium.
At the back of the room, a large-screen monitor cycled through pictures of AV俱乐部 students who鈥檝e received scholarship funding made possible through donations. In 2014-15, there were approximately 3,800 of those students, receiving a total of more than $8 million in funding.
One of those students is Alec Falkenham, a AV俱乐部 BSC grad (鈥�10) who is currently undertaking PhD studies in Pathology at the university. This year, his work towards an innovative tattoo-removal cream .
Falkenham 鈥斅爓ho has received scholarship support from the Killam Foundation alongside the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Heart and Stroke Foundation and the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation 鈥� also聽spoke at the ceremony. His message was one of thanks, recognizing that scholarships are important to provide students with space and support to explore their interests, discover new ideas and prepare for fulfilling careers.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen how scholarships can provide, motivation, confidence, a sense of recognition and the ability for one to live up to their full potential,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd had it not been for my scholarships, I may not have explored my ideas and would otherwise not be here speaking to you today.鈥�
It was a theme echoed by Dr. Florizone.
鈥淲hether it鈥檚 like Alec鈥檚 work making discoveries in the life sciences; or enriching our cultural space through the study of literature, the study of philosophy and performing arts; or shaping the economic viability of this region and our country through entrepreneurship, through engineering and public policy 鈥斅爄n all of these areas, your support is allowing AV俱乐部 to make a real difference, allowing our students and faculty to make their mark on the world stage.鈥�
To cap off the event, AV俱乐部 celebrated new members to its giving societies. The Heritage Society pays tribute to donors who have included AV俱乐部 in their estate plans, while the President鈥檚 Circle recognizes donors whose lifetime giving to AV俱乐部 has exceeded $100,000.
Left-to-right: Elvira Gonnella, Bruce Moxley, Michael Covert and President Florizone.
Heritage Society
- Elvira Gonnella, who was an associate professor in the Department of Music from 1974-1995. She supports a number of initiatives in the Foundation School of Arts, including the Elvira Gonnella Scholarship in Voice 鈥斅爏upport that will continue with her planned gift.
- Michael Covert, whose late was Carol was a Dal alumna (鈥�72) and a dedicated nurse and administrator. Michael has honoured her memory with a bequest from his estate to establish the Carol Rene Covert Memorial Scholarship in Nursing.
President鈥檚 Circle
- Bruce Moxley and Bishop Sue Moxley, both of whom have held positions at AV俱乐部: Sue as as a professor in the Department of Health and Human Performance, and Bruce as manager of clinics and building services for the Faculty of Dentistry, where he worked for 37 years before his retirement in 2011.