Supplemental Scholarship Fundraising Has Begun for Our 2022 College Bound Scholarship Recipients4/26/2022
Veterinarian, Biologist/Researcher, Opera Singer, IT Professional are among their goals. The lives of students we support are vastly different from their wealthier peers. All Out for Change®, through donations toward our Supplemental Scholarship fund, helps financially disadvantaged, ambitious, college scholarship recipients with great potential ease their journey toward degrees, professions, and upward mobility for themselves and their families. Supplemental Scholarship Awards are invaluable contributions to student success helping them with application fees and travel to visit schools; with quality laptops, iPads; and funds to cover the cost of college essentials, like transportation to college, $150 textbooks, clothes for interviews; all to help them stay in school and avoid racking up student loan debt.  An Evening of Music, Inspiration, Awards & Food Honoring Mary Schaffner, Founding Executive Director of District of Columbia International Charter School with The Angelo & Melvena Puglisi Award for Excellence in Education  Baritone Anthony D. Anderson’s captivating performance with Michael Crabill celebrates Anthony’s & 2021-22 Supplemental Scholarship awardees’ achievements. Watch Anthony’s appearances on the Today Show, NBC4, WUSA9. FUNDRAISER FOR THE BENEFIT OF OUR SUPPLEMENTAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEES We’re excited to introduce to you our Supplemental Scholarship Award recipients who will share their inspiring stories and achievements. Sponsorship Opportunities, Tickets, Donations SOS - Support Our Scholars through sponsorship, event tickets, donations, and by joining the celebration on the evening of Thursday, August 18, 5:00 pm. Contribute at a level of your choice starting at $100, and be acknowledged among our Circle of Friends; if you plan to attend you can receive up to 2 event seats. Donations of any size are welcome.
Little did Anthony’s mentor/coach/accompanist know that 8 years later, he would hear the head of the vocal department at Juilliard comment that he sees, “Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavorotti potential”. See and hear what Michael foresaw back then. With 4 All Out for Change® Supplemental Scholarship awards since 2017, Anthony’s achievements and good fortune have multiplied, including a full scholarship to Oberlin Conservatory, a Today Show interview, and news coverage. As he once remarked, “it takes a village!” Several months after Cantate selected Anthony as their inaugural Young Artist of Color, he emailed us, "...I need to share some amazing news ... the Des Moines Metro Opera company offered me a position in their Young Artist Apprenticeship program this summer. Des Moines is a renowned and highly revered company in the opera world and I cannot contest that this is an amazing opportunity..." Cantate Concert Choir this Sunday with special guests The Obertones!
Cantate Concert Choir brings a breath of fresh spring air to this concert, with jubilant music to make the heart sing. Johannes Brahms’ glorious Liebeslieder Waltzes (Love-Song Waltzes) anchor this program with additional works by Ola Gjeilo, Elaine Hagenberg, Morten Lauridsen, and Marques L. A. Garrett. The choir will premiere a new commission by the winner of our 13th biennial Young Composers’ Competition, Emily C. Mason. Anthony D. Anderson, Cantate's inaugural Young Artist of Color, and Oberlin College's The Obertoneswill make special guest appearances. Give to Cultivate More Stories of Achievement Donations to our Supplemental Scholarship Fund will continue to support Anthony in grad school, as well as DC International Charter School college scholarship recipients whose families have limited financial resources for college related essentials.
When I learned she applied her $600 Supplemental Scholarship award toward tuition, I realized she’s a partial scholarship recipient, who like many could be denied a semester’s registration if the balance isn’t paid. And she may struggle with making ends meetdue to additional college costs on top of day to day and college related expenses. So I asked about her college scholarship: "I am a scholarship student but it is only partial. Having the option to benefit from ongoing support via your supplemental scholarship awards would be a huge help for myself and my parents. My parents are currently working on figuring out how to afford sending my sister to college in the Fall for her freshman year. So, helping pay a part of my remaining tuition would be much appreciated.” She’ll be hearing from me with a follow up conversation to better understand how we can help. Luz’s Recent Financial Dilemma Luz emailed mid-January with a Subject, "Additional Support for College”: “... I’m Luz, one of the students you helped get a free laptop for college. I just wanted to thank you and All Out for Change again; it has been such a great help and a load off my shoulders. This semester, I might have an opportunity to be a notetaker for one of my classes so I’m planning on looking for an iPad Pro to make that easier. Does All Out for Change or any other organization you know offer iPads?... it will be useful for annotating my typed-up notes, and especially for drawing molecular structures in chemistry and diagrams in physics.” Knowing what a difference the awarded iPad made for Anthony since fall 2020, I told her we’d take care of the iPad Pro and Apple pencil. She returned to Northeastern University in Boston, where she’s a scholarship student majoring in Biology, with an essential tool for her pursuit of a profession in research. From campus, she wrote, "The iPad is great and will be such a great help. I appreciate it and the work you do!" I Reach Out Assuring Them We’re Here for Them We understand there are so many college-related and day to day expenses that partial and full academic scholarships don’t cover. In our awareness of that challenge we’re here to take some of the load off students’ and families’ shoulders knowing what a difference it can make: keep them in school; allow them to achieve their well-deserved potential and goals; and reduce their and their families’ debt. Read This Recent Article in The Washington Post - "When a small expense threatens a college education" It sheds light on student conundrums that so few people understand exist. A degree, career and upward mobility is truly a perilous journey these days. “A lot of people think if you give a kid a scholarship, now the kid’s set, they’ve got everything they need,” said Chris Metzler, director of student services at Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Pennsylvania. “Nothing could be further from the truth.” "To a middle-income kid from a neighborhood with two cars in every garage, it may be incomprehensible that something costing less than a few burritos at Chipotle could derail a person’s college education. But for many young people across the country — growing up in homes where there’s little left after paying rent and utilities — the challenge is painfully familiar." You can find more enlightening reads on our eye-opening stories page. Donations of any size, all together help us fulfill our mission.
YOUR DONATION IN ITS ENTIRETY IS INVESTED IN OUR STUDENT SCHOLARS
Richard Antoine White and our student scholars are among the 43 million Americans whose student loan debt totals $1.75 trillion!!! Our goal is relieve some of the debt burden for college scholarship recipients whose financial disadvantage puts them between a rock and a hard place in pursuit of upward mobility. Our team member, a Junior, is fortunate to have so far accumulated only $15,000 of debt; but she’s pursuing a masters degree, and she commented, even at an amount lower than many others’, “I’ll be paying off my student loans for a long time.” Keeping Up With Anthony, Live Stream Recital Saturday, 2:30 ET
If you were busy, but intended to pitch in, you still can do so, and we’ll honor the year-end 1:1 Match through Sunday, January 9. Support Scholarship Recipients in a Significant Way YOUR DONATION IN ITS ENTIRETY IS INVESTED IN OUR STUDENT SCHOLARS We all receive many appeals for donations. I really appreciate you all who “see the value in others’ lives” and chose to support our student scholars. Through you we’ll be able to assist Anthony, and others, with their school-related and living expenses via Supplemental Scholarship awards. I thank you on behalf of all the college-bound students we’ve assisted in 2021.
Sincerely, MaryAnn, Chief Engagement Officer and Founder AllOutForChange® facebook + instagram YOUR DONATION IN ITS ENTIRETY IS INVESTED IN OUR STUDENT SCHOLARS Donations assist full and partial-scholarship recipients with the myriad of essentials their wealthier peers’ families can afford, such as laptops, transportation to and from college, clothes for job interviews, meals, dorm and school supplies, and scholarship tuition gaps that prevent registration if not paid. Do You Have Leads to Foundations, Philanthropists, Businesses, Grant-makers? Hopefully, we can find more support in the near future to assist this group of recipients with expenses throughout their college years, and do so as well for each year’s group of select Supplemental Scholarship award recipients graduating from DC International Charter School. Via Their Words We Better Grasp The Reality of Their Journey Higher Education Leads to Higher Earnings, A Journey Fraught with Hurdles & Debt That Takes Immense Courage to Embark On Damaris, DC International Charter School (DCI), class of 2021, first year scholarship student at Lewis & Clark University: When I asked in August, “As a student who we go to bat for, are you comfortable with the words “financially disadvantaged” as in “ambitious financially disadvantaged student scholars”? Damaris thoughtfully replied, “The word financially disadvantaged doesn’t offend me because it is true and I know it is not my fault. I think the words surrounding the adjectives are important like “ambitious” and should be emphasized because in all you are helping students make a way when originally there would be no way. They have goals, dreams, and aspirations just like anyone else except their financial situation puts them a little farther away from the finish line than other students whose families are affluent....I went off on a little tangent, but in all I think the adjectives are ok with me and shouldn’t offend anyone.” Damaris is putting her Supplemental Scholarship award to good use.  Anthony Anderson, graduate of Duke Ellington School, and Oberlin Conservatory, Class of 2022: After receiving an iPad as a Supplemental Scholarship award Anthony wrote: “I wish to express my deepest gratitude to you and AllOutForChange.....with your support, I’ve had opportunities to travel and find the right school for me, play in my first two full length operas this past year, and even sing at Carnegie Hall this past winter. Know that you make a difference.... y’all provide a helping hand to those in need. Please, continue the good work!” September 24, 2020. When I asked if he received his latest Supplemental Scholarship award for grad school application fees and travel expenses, he replied,“Yes, I have! ...It really came right on time so I could send out my applications and pay the fees on time. Thank you again! I’m just waiting on results to hopefully schedule live auditions.” December 7, 2021.
“...some of the most surprising challenges are not academic but logistical. Something as simple as affordable, reliable transportation can mean the difference between a student finishing college or not." A surprising reason keeping students from finishing college: A lack of transportation, Hechinger Report, December 10, 2021 For AOFC Anthony interviewed 5 students and young professionals who tell it like it is. When discussing student debt with Rebecca in her interview: “I’m graduating with $40,000 in federal loans,” remarks Rebecca a GWU engineering school full & merit scholarship recipient, Anthony replies, “That’s not that bad!”
Support Scholarship Recipients in a Significant Way YOUR DONATION IN ITS ENTIRETY IS INVESTED IN OUR STUDENT SCHOLARS When I read stories and meet young adults and teens with aspirations, talent and initiative like Anthony, and when I learn of the many strangers’ desire to pitch in, I trust we can make a life-changing difference for others: 1 laptop, 1 iPad, 1 award at a time. Sincerely, MaryAnn, Chief Engagement Officer and Founder AllOutForChange® facebook + instagram 1:1 Match Today, Giving Tuesday For every donation received there’ll be a 1:1 Match up to $5000 YOUR DONATION IN ITS ENTIRETY IS INVESTED IN OUR STUDENT SCHOLARS Help increase funds for 2022 to help more scholarship recipients with the additional support they need. Please consider, if you are able, contributing more this year to the Supplemental Scholarship & College Access Fund. Learn about lower-income students’ financial struggles as they pursue upward mobility by listening to eye-opening interviews. Donations at Work- Student Achievements in Pursuit of Degrees & Professions Anthony Keeps Soaring Higher - Watch the WUSA9 Interview
What a Difference $931 Made Thanks to 5 Donations Toward a Supplemental Scholarship Award, an iPad Anthony writes, “The IPad has been a great vital component of my work the last year and a half. It has served to assist in shooting high quality video recordings that I can use for graduate audition prescribes as well as a place I can store much larger files. The IMovie feature is incredible in allowing me to cut and edit videos that I otherwise wouldn't be able to on my regular laptop because it simply is a bit dated and lacks the storage needed to be able to process these videos. It has also served as a place where I can store my eTextbooks for language classes and other academic courses like Philosophy.” Many Scholarship Recipients Benefited From Supplemental Scholarship Awards, Invaluable Computers and College Access Funds for their college prep workshops that included: tutoring, college and scholarship research assistance and counseling.
The lives of students we support are vastly different from their wealthier peers. All Out for Change®, through donations, helps financially disadvantaged, ambitious, students with great potential like Kevin, Anthony, Guadalupe, Juana, and numerous others. Our support, together with others', eases their journey toward degrees, professions, and upward mobility for themselves and their families. Give to Cultivate Upward Mobility & More Stories of Achievement YOUR DONATION IN ITS ENTIRETY IS INVESTED IN OUR STUDENT SCHOLARS Spread the Word via Instagram & Facebook
Please help cultivate awareness of our students' conundrums and the importance of College Access Funds. Thank You to All Who Made Our 2021 Impact Possible!
The next day while in the office at 5:30 pm, I saw the light on in my office neighbor’s window across the way. I opened mine and yelled out to him. He opened his with a big smile. Enjoying the connection and conversation, he held up the Starbucks coffee cup, his daily delivery. I prodded him on the front stoop the day before, his Starbucks delivery in hand…"walk out the door and support one of our small businesses; the bagel shop makes the best cappuccino and americano. Just make sure you have Judy do it.” So, from his window he tells me that it’s because of the convenience and time savings. He doesn’t take the time to go the 1/2 block daily, and so misses out on the connection, the neighborly familiarity with local businesses that's easily cultivated just out our door. Read the Tuesday opinion by Brian Broome. You may find yourself pondering and reflecting on choices too. Giving Tuesday, right after Thanksgiving, is upon us Feel free to give in advance and we’ll honor our Giving Tuesday 1:1 Match and you'll avoid our Giving Tuesday appeals among all the others. Donations replenish the College Access Funds supporting invaluable college prep workshops, and Supplemental Scholarship awards for 2022 high school grads.  How Boji manages is quite remarkable…. same with the students we support on their journey toward success in high school, and achieving college scholarships, degrees, and professional dreams. Giving Tuesday, right after Thanksgiving, is upon us Feel free to give in advance and we’ll honor our Giving Tuesday 1:1 Match and you'll avoid our Giving Tuesday appeals cluttering your inbox. 100% of donations go toward the College Access Funds supporting invaluable college prep workshops, and Supplemental Scholarship awards for 2022 high school grads.
Listen to his engaging interview with Cantate’s Music Director. Learn about Anthony’s life, struggles, hard work and achievements, good fortune he encounters, his aspirations, and how opera and music entered his life. In a Broken Educational System Serendipity & Good Fortune Crush the Cycle of Poverty It's magical and powerful, Anthony's story, as are all of those stories of successful people who overcame systemic obstacles. The page-turners on our eye-opening stories page reveal that high school and college degrees and upward mobility often come down to the serendipitous appearance of pivotal people at critical moments, and the student scholar’s courage, strength, and persistence that emerges to break through road-blocks and faltering hope and belief on a perilous journey that’s far from mundane. "We have overwhelming odds we have to face and get over as a community . . . I was blessed to be able to,” remarks Anthony when interviewing another fortunate full-scholarship student. Listen to interviews conducted by Anthony, filled with insightful illuminating conversation. Hear students and degreed young adults, at different stages of achievement in their pursuit of upward mobility and fulfilling careers, tell it like it is. Their conversations reveal key worries, financial stress, struggles and critical turning points that lead to hard-earned achievements one-step at a time on their families’ unfamiliar unbeaten path. Put on Your Thinking Cap We need to grow All Out for Change® funds to assist more students in bigger ways: provide more availability to College Prep programs, and to reduce their college debt burdens via Supplemental Scholarship awards. If you know of any businesses, individuals, rotary clubs, small grant-making foundations, or grant-writers who’d like to help make a difference for financially disadvantaged student scholars, please email me. To start replenishing the Funds for 2021-2022 11th & 12 grade scholars donate below |
MaryAnn PuglisiChief Engagement Officer, AllOutForChange.org Archives
April 2022
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All Out for Change® raises awareness of less privileged high school students’ hurdles, supports high school graduates and college prep programs, and gives students more opportunities to pursue degrees, professions,
and upward mobility. 1431 21st St. NW · Suite 302 | Washington, DC 20036 | 202-857-8384 All Out for Change® is a registered 501(c)(3) charity: donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. |