Phonathon

Just when it seemed as if this summer couldn’t get any longer or hotter, we find ourselves excitedly peering into a new school year.  Whether you’re sending someone to Messiah for the first time, attending Messiah as a first-year student, or have become a well-seasoned veteran along the years, the opportunity to meet new people and have great experiences is just around the corner. 

Messiah is full of opportunities.  Students can always appreciate serving and participating in mission trips, taking on new enhanced academic programs, as well as becoming an important part of a club or organization here on campus.  Many of these opportunities and thrilling chances for students to grow would not be possible without the help of the Student Impact Fund.  In addition, the SIF assists in providing scholarships and financial aid to students, funds technology to give our students the best tools to work with, and supports faculty/student research partnerships.  Without these generous gifts from alumni, parents, and other friends of Messiah, the majority of these opportunities would not be possible to maintain.

So, as the summer cools off and slides into the crisp autumn; simply keep in mind what many of our opportunities are supported by: the Student Impact Fund. Hard work and support from parents, friends and alumni alike is not taken for granted and is greatly appreciated, especially as we think about where we will go throughout this next school year.        

- Quinn Dillon, student caller

Preparing for the new Phonathon season is well under way! I am so excited about the opportunity to work with students in the fall! I have so many things to prepare for this new academic semester; however, I am anxious to meet everyone and get started. Right now we are in the process of designing new posters, getting some new Call Center equipment, and gearing up for the Opportunities Fair on September 1^st. It seems so far away but I need to keep reminding myself that it’s not!

                It’s been quite an experience to step in as Phonathon Coordinator. I have had many eye-opening experiences and feel like I’ve learned more about Messiah’s commitment to their students than I did when I was actually a student. This is not to say that I did not feel cared for when I was a student – I certainly did! I was so blessed as a student, and in all honesty, I wish I had another four years! There is so much I want to do!  But working on this side of things, I have truly discovered the importance of the Annual Fund, Phonathon, and Giving Back in general.

                Now, I know you’re probably thinking, “Oh, well she’s paid to say that”, but I mean it. I really do. It takes a lot more than just tuition to cover the cost of running an institution, and we are so blessed as a College with the generosity of students, alumni, parents, and friends. I feel so privileged to work in this department because I know that the work I do – and the incredible work that the Phonathon callers do! – makes a profound difference on the lives of students at Messiah. And that’s just plain awesome, if you ask me.

- Erin McManness, Annual Giving Coordinator

Greetings! My name is Erin McManness and I am the new Annual Giving Coordinator at Messiah! I am so excited to be working with all of the returning and future callers for Phonathon this year. As a very recent graduate of Messiah, I am so happy and proud to be working here now! It truly feels like coming home.

A little about me:

I grew up in Baltimore, MD, and came to Messiah as a first year student in 2004 as a Theatre major. I really enjoyed musical theatre in high school, and if we have the pleasure of meeting, you will soon find that I have a very deep love for singing and music. I took a scenic painting course from Timberley Wittrig as part of my theatre experience, and knew I was hooked on art. Growing up with an artistic father, I always had a natural knack for the subject matter. Sophomore year I changed my major to Art Education, with high school as my target audience. Among the first things I learned from shadowing actual high school teachers was that I didn’t want to teach art – I wanted to sit down and DO it! So I changed my major once again to Studio Art with a concentration in Two-Dimensional Studies (aka, painting and drawing). This just goes to show that when you enter college, sometimes you are in to surprise yourself – I certainly did! If you are a first year student reading this entry, I can offer this one piece of advice (among many!): take your Gen Ed’s first. My second semester Senior Year was a 19-credit double whammy!

Any way you slice it, I loved being an Art Major. Among the many things I was involved in at Messiah, I studied abroad in the small town of Orvieto, Italy. It was the best experience of my entire life. Another piece of advice from me to you (no matter how far along you are in your college education): study abroad! You will be changed and molded in ways you cannot even begin to imagine, and it is just really a TON of fun!  If you’d like to hear more about my Italy experience or just studying abroad in general, I warmly welcome you to email me (emcmanness@messiah.edu), and I would love to share with you.

I finished my major with Senior Show, the Art Department’s Capstone project. My colleagues and I devoted an entire eight months to developing ideas, working on preliminary sketches, and finalizing and installing our senior pieces – the culmination of our entire studio art experience – for the reception in March 2008, which drew over 200 viewers in one night! It was certainly an evening to remember.

And now, here I am: back at Messiah for more! I loved my experience as a student, and if you are a student reading this, it is my deepest wish that you too will feel a profound sense of belonging and pride here with us.

I am very excited to work with Phonathon. Phonathon is a work-study job where current students call alumni , parents, and friends of the college to develop relationships by encouraging financial support of the institution. The money raised during Phonathon goes to the Student Impact Fund (SIF). As a student, I had never heard the words, “Student Impact Fund”, even though this fund was – unbeknownst to me - supporting my life as I knew it at Messiah. Student Impact Fund does exactly what its name says: it impacts students on a daily basis. Without the generous giving of alumni, parents, and friends of the college, some students would not be able to even come here! Not to mention all of the numerous events, missions trips, and study abroad opportunities that SIF supports financially. One of the best parts about a Messiah College experience is the ability to GO. We are given so many opportunities to experience life as others do; we are called to be servants – it is an integral part of our mission. As students wanting to make a difference, we choose to give: our time, our money, our compassion. That’s why it is so important to have the Student Impact fund. It is based on giving back to the College as alumni, parents, and friends so that our students continually have the ability to give to others in kind. This circle of giving and giving back is essential to the character of Messiah, and it makes me proud that I can continue to be a part of it.

- Erin McManness, Annual Giving Coordinator

Classes have started! I’m busy doing a lot of interviews right now and it’s such a blessing to be able to meet so many students. We’re 2 weeks away from the first day of calling. I am very excited for this semester. We’ve put up the 2nd comic about Phonathon across campus. Check it out below:

Coming soon: Pictures of the call center

 
This is one of the posters used to educate and recruit students on campus. I love this poster! A new one will be posted around campus on Monday. Stay tuned.

I’d like to extend a warm welcome to all students. It’s a blessing to have each of you here on campus!

I am so excited to see the campus alive again! There have been a lot of changes made across campus this summer. I was able to experience one of the changes yesterday - Lunch at the Union. They have a BRAND NEW menu which features smoothies, gourmet salads, cheesesteaks etc. I highly reccomend that you have a meal at the Union. You won’t regret it!

I am preparing myself for the fall Phonathon. Recruitment is going well. Initial posters have been put up across campus so be on the look out for them. A mass email will be sent out to the campus soon. I am eager to see my returning callers and hire new ones as well.

I feel an energy and excitement in the air. Good times are ahead

I love summer times. I’ve enjoyed the weather, vacation trips and times of relaxation. As much as I’m excited for students to return, I’ll miss the summer. I’ve been enjoying myself so much so that I was silent all summer on this blog. My apologies.

So you’re probably wondering what I’ve been up to all summer. I have had the privilege to meet with alumni this summer. I’ve found every visit to be energizing. I look forward to doing more of them in the coming months. I’ve also spent time preparing for Phonathon. God truly blessed the program this past fiscal year - we raised over $355,000 in gifts and pledges, an increase of 94 percent over the previous year! In fact, this past year was the best year Phonathon has ever performed yet. I thank God for his faithfulness and for surrounding me with wonderful co-workers and student callers.

I’m excited for this upcoming year! Recruiting has begun for the fall so if you’re interested or if you know of someone, please fill out the application and send it back to me as soon as possible.

Stay tuned for more posts.

It’s been a pleasure having Bethany blog about her experience this spring. She, along with all of the other callers, will be missed this summer! I must say that I am still very excited for all that the summer has to offer. I will keep you updated about my summer adventures however in the mean time take a couple of minutes to check this ecard out:

I know I’ve blogged about one of the songs on this CD before but I think that this CD is worth mentioning again. Go ahead, check it out for yourself. Click on the above banner and enjoy listening.

P.S. - #14 is amazing! “Let now our hearts burn with a flame…”

Before I go into talking about the Falcons, I want to give a public shout-out to two recent blog posts I’ve read: Beth’s recent post on ‘God knitting a message’ really blessed me. The second is Justin’s predictions for our basketball teams. 

I am excited for both our teams and I must say that I agree with Justin in that they have the potential of going DEEP in the tournament. Well, we’ll just have to wait until Friday for the action to begin but in the meantime, take a look at some sweet highlights from the women’s MAC championship game vs. Moravian (thanks to RCH productions).

I have been PATIENTLY waiting (it’s been hard, trust me) for the new Hillsong United album to come out. If you do not know anything about Hillsong, please visit www.hillsong.com. Right now, I need to talk about the new CD. It’s called “All of the Above” and they’ve finally released one of the new tracks on their myspace. The song is called “Solution” … what can I say? It’s such a powerful anthem of the call that God has on each of our lives. I encourage you to take a listen. Let the words minister to you.

I’m posting a portion of the lyrics below - this is part of the bridge. Enjoy!

only you can mend the broken heart
and cause the blind to see
erase complete the sinners past
and set the captives free
only you can take the widows cry
and cause her heart to sing
be a father to the fatherless
our savior and our king
we will be your hands, we will be your feet
we will run this race 
for the least of these
in the darkest place, we will be your light
we will be your light

I pray that in whatever situation you find yourself in, let God be the solution and allow Him to use you to be His hands and feet.