Dalton State College will hold its fifth annual Giving Day on Thursday, Oct. 17.
“Giving Day is when alumni and donors, faculty and staff, individuals and corporations – anyone who cares about Dalton State and its impact in Northwest Georgia – join together in a broad show of financial support for the good things happening here,” David Elrod, director of the Dalton State Foundation, said.
Giving Day highlights specific projects across campus, but donors may give to any area of the college they choose. Any gift between now and October 17 will be included in the Giving Day totals.
This year’s Giving Day includes a record number of projects representing various areas across campus.
Some of this year’s projects include:
- Roadrunner Student Emergency Fund: Life happens
Unexpected financial barriers such as a car repair or loss of work hours can lead to students withdrawing from classes. The Roadrunner Student Emergency Fund provides financial support to remove unexpected financial barriers to help students maintain academic success.
- Birdfeeder
Food insecurity is prevalent issue across the nation. The Dalton State Birdfeeder provides supplemental food items to students to help ensure they have the nourishment needed to thrive academically and personally. A $25 gift provides supplemental food items for one week to a student in need.
- College Drive Mural: Sign of good things to come
The mural at the entrance of College Drive is often a visitor’s first glimpse of campus. Unfortunately, the current mural is fraying. The college has asked local artist Mayelli Meza to design and paint a new mural to represent Dalton State’s vibrant community.
- School of Health Professions: Nurses in the neighborhood
Dalton State’s nursing students volunteer in local community centers, schools and daycare centers to gain hands-on learning experience while providing wellness checks, vision screenings and other assessments that require supplies such as first aid kits, height and weight scales, and sanitizing wipes. A $24 gift provides one first-aid kit. The project goal is 100 kits.
- School of Health Education: Doing the write things
The School of Education is planning to offer a workshop designed to develop the creative and expressive writing skills education majors will use in their future classrooms. The cost to participate is $75 per student. The project goal is 100 students. - The Wright School of Business: Tools for success
Courses such as finance, accounting, economics and statistics require the completion of complex calculations, and the calculators needed can be costly. A $40 gift provides a Texas Instruments BAII Plus calculator to one student. The project goal is 120 calculators.
- School of Arts and Sciences: Experiential learning
Experiential learning activities provide students with additional skills and experiences often sought by employers. Experiential learning experiences such as faculty supervised research projects, field experiences, conference presentation or service learning are not covered by tuition. A gift of $170, for example, will cover the cost of a hotel for one night for two students traveling to present at a conference or participate in another experiential learning project.
- Ken White Student Health Center
The Ken White Student Health Center provides on-campus healthcare to students at no cost. A $25 gift will purchase 20 ACE elastic bandages. A gift of $50 will purchase 26 bags of cough drops. A $75 gift will purchase 70 cold compresses. A $100 gift will purchase 50 bottles of ibuprofen. A $200 gift will purchase three boxes of rapid strep tests. A $500 gift will purchase one case of Covid/Flu combo tests.
- Roberts Library: Laptop loan program
Not every student can afford a laptop or computer. The Roberts Library developed a laptop loan program that allows students to check out laptops for the semester for free. Heavy usage and advancing technology require the laptops be replaced periodically, and the program is currently in need of 30 new laptops. The cost per laptop is $1,200.
Additional projects include scholarships, the Dalton State campus garden, the Roadrunner Scholars Summer Bridge Program, athletics footwear and travel funds, Turtle Assurance Colony support, virtual reality headsets for student VR labs in Roberts Library, the School of Health Profession’s helping Hispanic women and helping the elderly campaigns, and the Wright School of Business’ professional networking for students’ campaign.
Projects are promoted on the 2024 Giving Day website with real-time updates on each project’s progress at www.daltonstate.edu/giving. Various gift match campaigns and challenges will be featured throughout Giving Day on October 17.
