UNIVERSITY NEWS

Supporting Macquarie

Alumni and other donors recently helped raise more than $100,000 in six weeks, with the funds raised earmarked to help fund equity scholarships and research into Motor Neurone Disease.

While belts have generally tightened with global economic uncertainty, the need to help those less fortunate has grown. So when the Foundation Office, in association with MGSM and Australian School of Advanced Medicine’s new Motor Neurone Disease Research Centre, contacted alumni and other previous donors to ask for their help via the University’s Annual Fund, they were overwhelmed by the response.

“The people we spoke to were almost universal in the desire to give back to the University, and to help others,” explains Leann Meiers, Director of the Macquarie University Foundation. “Others had been scholarship recipients themselves, and wanted to help as they had been helped.”

Donating funds towards the Appeal for Equity Scholarships will help the University create additional scholarships for bright and driven students who, for reasons beyond their control, might otherwise miss out, she explains.

“We have seen how this powerful gift has a profound impact on the lives of individual students and beyond as they are enabled to use their considerable talents to improve our broader community,” says Meiers.

One recipient is Jacob Tate who says that getting the Macquarie Accommodation Scholarship was life-changing.

“I no longer had to think about every single dollar and whether I could afford all of the reading material I needed for the coursework,” he says.

“Most importantly, the extra funds allowed me to save enough money to participate in a Macquarie project I was very passionate about – a three-month volunteer program in rural India working with and educating local farmers in sustainable microfinance.

“The scholarship and that experience have played a huge part in shaping the direction I want my life to take.”

Other alumni were keen to support the Australian School of Advanced Medicine and its work at the recently opened Deb Bailey Motor Neurone Disease Research Centre at the Macquarie University Hospital.

“Some alumni made straight out gifts to the appeal, while others who had been touched by the experiences of friends and loved ones raised funds more creatively,” Meiers says .

“Alumnus Garry Pearce assisted Wendy Harrington and Bev Button raise over $5000 with support from colleagues and friends, placing 9th in an adventure race in honour of John McAskill, a friend and MQ alumnus who had the disease.

“People give what they can afford, with one graduate donating $10. The individual amount doesn’t matter, but the collective good that this appeal will do is priceless.”