Fall, 2009

f you know anything about the history of Aquinas, you know it all started with seeds and sapling trees, planted with love. Those tiny seeds have grown into thousands of majestic trees—a forest filled with beautiful and varied leaves, spread over the 107-acre campus.

The different layers of a forest are simple: The Forest Floor, the Understory, and the Canopy. The way they work together is complex and meaningful.

The Aquinas Fund works much like a for-est. The Forest Floor is akin to the young donors who give as much as they can in small amounts. This layer is so important because it nourishes the other plants and trees. Every plant has its purpose, just as every penny counts toward the health of the Fund.

The Understory represents the donors who consistently give, sometimes for decades, and provide for the Fund when the economic sun isn’t so cheery. Often these donors are the hard working people who set aside a portion to give each year.

The Canopy layer represents the donors who are benevolent, and who allow us to help the largest number of students.

The members of the Aquinas Fund are sending you this newsletter in the hope that you will join in planting scholarship seeds for our students by donating to the fund.

We want you to know, that no matter which important layer you belong to, we need you to sustain the healthy cycling of our Fund’s survival and growth.

We are pleased to present The Aquinas Fund Living Tree Newsletter.

This newsletter is designed to be fun and informative. We will highlight students, the recipients of scholarships, and their exciting pursuits in our “Grow it For-

ward” feature. We will introduce alumni and friends, new

Living Tree and Givingby CeciliaCunningham�

Director,TheAquinasFund

Saints and Golden Saints, who are making a difference through the Aquinas Fund.

The success of the Aquinas Fund is the direct result of strong leadership and kind volunteerism.

DanJablonski,’77 JohnNowak,’63 AngelaKorte,’96

I am pleased to introduce this year’s Aquinas Fund co-chairs Dan Jablonski, John Nowak, and Angela Korte.

“As students, Dave and I never realized where the money for our scholarships came from. A money tree, perhaps?

When we realized that scholarship money existed as a result of generous alumni, we wanted to be those kind of people. The experiences that

we gained from Aquinas are invaluable, and by donating, we’re doing our small part to give someone else the opportunity for an awesome education.”

The Importance of Giving

Nicole‘06,andDaveDoppel‘06

Campaign Highlights• Facebook Fan page – if you haven’t already signed up

you’re missing out!� Come see us at: www.facebook.com/aquinas.college www.twitter.com/AQAdmissions

• Wege Challenge Match – $250,000 in matching money. We have still $224,507 to go!�

• The chart below highlights the Outstanding Class per decade, by percentage of Alumni participation. Congratulations!

Aquinas Fund

1607 Robinson Road Southeast Grand Rapids, MI 49506

www.aquinas.edu

(616) 632-2816 or (616) 632-2804

c.cunningham@aquinas.edu (e-mail)

(616) 732-4481 (fax)

(800) 678-9593 (toll-free)

This feature highlights a student who is currently being helped by the AQ Fund, and whom we hope will continue the

contributing cycle in the future.

Jess Venlet ‘10“The AQ faculty that has inspired me to be a critical reader and an imaginative writer, is now guiding me through the process of entering a graduate program. This is what makes me most proud to be a Saint— I would not be where I am today without the support I’ve received from the Aquinas community. A huge part of that sup-port lies in the financial aid I have received. Without my Monsignor Bukowski scholarship, I never would have been able to afford Aquinas. ...For this I must thank you. You are the people that have made this possible. Most of all, though, I want to thank you on behalf of my parents. You have helped them realize their dream of providing me with an excellent education.”

Our campaign goal is 1.6 million.

To date, we have raised $425,052!