Wilkie Family Challenge Match 2024 is Live!

If you didn’t get a chance to give yet, please join us in supporting this important initiative!

Exciting news! Thanks to the incredible generosity of the Wilkie Family, the Wilkie Family Challenge Match is back—and it’s better than ever! Your donation towards the Greatest Needs Fund can be doubled, with matching funds up to $125,000 until December 31, 2024.

As year-end approaches let’s not lose sight of the goal of the Vision 2025 Campaign that ends June 30th. We have $1.5 million left to raise, and together, we can make a meaningful impact.

The Schoolcraft College Foundation stands firm in its mission: supporting thousands of students each year is a collective effort that goes beyond state programs like Michigan Reconnect and the Community College Guarantee. Many students face profound challenges, including food insecurity and homelessness.

National statistics reveal that 48% of two-year college students face food insecurity, and 18% experience homelessness, underscoring the urgent call for your support. Your generosity holds the power to change lives; you are crucial to student success.

Please invest in the bright future of a Schoolcraft College student and have your gift doubled through the Wilkie Family Challenge Match. You have the power to create life-changing opportunities and
be a beacon of hope for those in need. Thank you for making a difference!

The Gift of Sight

Let me introduce you to Thomas: a blind chef with an incredible vision.

Despite being legally blind since eight, due to macular degeneration, Thomas’s passion for cooking never wavered. After experiencing challenges in college without proper support, he stepped away from his dream of becoming a chef. Everything transformed when he
joined the Culinary Arts department at Schoolcraft College. Under the mentorship of Chef Chris Misiak and Chef Shawn Loving, Thomas embraced the Culinary Arts program, learning to harness his other senses — smell, touch, taste, and sound — to master the art of cooking. Thanks to the generosity of donors like you, he received specialized glasses that enhanced his vision and a portable device to read books and recipes. These invaluable tools have propelled his education and career forward. “I’ve waited 27 years to be able to see. This has changed my life,” says Thomas. “I am very thankful to the Foundation and donors.”

Here’s how your gift will help:

1. It will enable single mothers like Maria to enroll in the Nursing Program, allowing her to
   become a Registered Nurse and achieve her lifelong dream without having to work two jobs.
2. Will provide support to students and moms like Heather whose journey back to school has been
   marked by health issues like muscular sclerosis and battling breast cancer twice.
3. It will assist students like Brandon, a US Army National Guardsman and father of two children
   who is pursuing a nursing degree to become a Flight Nurse. Though Brandon receives VA benefits he
   needs additional aid to help cover the remaining balance as well as other supplies not covered.

Your generosity provides:

• Scholarships
• Opportunities through Grants
• Transformative Support for Programs
• Assistance for Emergency Needs like Food Insecurity
• Inspiring K-12 Educational Programs
• Wrap-around Services such as: learning support, mental health care, lab fees, books and supplies
  and necessities not covered by other sources; childcare and transportation; all barriers to
  students achieving their goals and completing their degrees.

Thomas’s impact story and the examples of student support are just the beginning of the incredible
needs that the Schoolcraft Foundation addresses every year. Your generosity can provide the
resources they need to achieve these goals.

Thank you for being a part of our community and supporting student success. Your contributions make
a profound difference.

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