Central College held its fourth-annual Hoo-Rah Day on April 7. This year’s focus centered on helping the entire Central family and unleashing the Central Dutch spirit.
In total, the college raised a record $225,372 to help support scholarships and a new fund for students experiencing financial difficulties because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Hoo-Rah Day always has been a day to celebrate Central and share Central pride with the nation and world. In addition to fundraising efforts, the celebration allows alumni and friends of the college to be involved by sharing photos, stories and videos through channels such as social media. This year, the event logged more than 70,000 social media impressions in just 24 hours, including more than 5,000 hits to the college’s Hoo-Rah Day video at central.edu/fight-song.
There were 241 donors this year and included alumni, parents of alumni or students, faculty and staff members and students. Together they raised $202,407 for the Journey Scholarship Fund and $8,135 for the Central Cares Fund. Gifts came from 26 states, as far away as Hawaii.
“We can’t thank our alumni and friends enough for stepping up to support the Central family on Hoo-Rah Day this year,” says Sunny Gonzales Eighmy, vice president for advancement and a 1999 Central graduate. “We take pride in the caring community we have at Central. Among the many things this pandemic has reinforced is that uncertainty is a certainty, and it’s much better to have an encouraging and collaborative community to lean on.
“If I ever needed a reminder about why the Central family is so special, these times have certainly provided that.”
The Central Cares Fund was established to help students experiencing extreme hardship as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Contributions to the fund will be awarded to students demonstrating need for emergency assistance due to changes in economic or health conditions. This may include, but is not limited to, assisting with technology and access, unexpected travel, shipping and storage, book and course materials and student accounts.
Central raised $218,137 through 403 gifts on Hoo-Rah Day in 2019, with $196,409 going toward the Journey Scholarship Fund. Each dollar donated to the JSF goes directly to benefit students.
