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This 1Day1SMC, you were our hero
On April 28, we put out a call to our Gael family to help our current and future Saint Mary’s students — and the response was incredible. You, along with more than 1,100 other Gael superheroes, answered that call on 1Day1SMC: National Superhero Day edition!
With your help, we were also able to unlock two exciting challenges: $6,000 to the College from the Alumni board, and $200,000 from the Board of Trustees and select former trustees to the James A. Donahue Presidential Scholarship, in honor of our retiring president.
This came as no surprise — Saint Mary’s is where heroes are made, after all! Our students have heroes like Marisela, Maile, Fernando, Dr. Schuh, and you to help them on their journeys. Every hero has a story, and you became part of that story for our students.
You have proven that not all heroes wear capes — some wear headbands! We will be sending you your 1Day1SMC headband in the mail next week!
Thank you for stepping up and using your power of generosity to do good.
Chapel Photo Credit: Chris Bombach ’17
Congratulations to our Social Media Challenge winners!
The following accounts secured $250 each to the funds of their choice thanks to their social media advocacy using #1day1smc!
- @smc_msoccer
- @jeffleslie - Liberal Arts Bridge Program
- @smc_sportsmed
- @SMCLib
Thank you for amplifying our call to support our Gaels!
Gael Class Challenge
Alumni have a special opportunity for some friendly competition this year: 2021 Gael Class Challenge.
Think your SMC class has the most spirit? Show our Gael community by making a gift of any amount, and see your class year rise in the leaderboards. The class with the greatest participation will get ultimate bragging rights!
Meet Some SMC Superheroes
Marisela
Meet one of our many Saint Mary's superheroes! Marisela has been a part of the Saint Mary's family for 25 years, ensuring that our students have a clean and safe learning environment.
COVID-19 taught us all that cleanliness was not just a virtue, but a superpower! And Marisela’s powers extend even beyond that. For generations of Saint Mary’s students, she’s been a friendly face, a person to talk to and bond with. She prays on behalf of students when she knows they have rigorous exams, and celebrates their successes in her favorite way: dancing! Her work and her heart have been instrumental in keeping our campus safe, and our students connected. Marisela is a true Saint Mary's superhero, a member of our Gael family who inspires everyone around her to become more. You can support our student superheroes as well by making a gift on our big giving day: 1Day1SMC.
Maile ’21
Maile ’21 is a current student flexing her superpowers! She has helped bring food – even a monthly produce truck — to the campus community through her work and research with the GaelPantry, and in collaboration with the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano.
But that’s not the only way she lives up to all three of the superheroic words in her major — Justice, Community, and Leadership. She makes campus life better and provides students with support and meaning as a Resident Advisor and mentor for the Lasallian Living Learning Community – all while earning a minor in Sociology, too!
Support students like Maile and the many others who give so much of themselves to the Saint Mary's community by joining us on April 28 for 1Day1SMC.
Fernando Garcia
The challenges of the past year are no match for the overwhelming positive energy Fernando Garcia, Retail and Pub Manager, radiates at SMC. Whether pouring a warm latte in the morning, or a cold beverage at the Pub, Fernando elevates the spirits of everyone around him – and the thank-you cards he receives from students are proof! He keeps them safe with friendly mask and social distancing reminders, by keeping up with increased sanitation demands, and by bringing light and life to their experiences every single day.
With the superpowers of gratitude, adaptability, and kindness, Fernando can truly do it all. But you need only to do one thing to help on April 28! Join us on 1Day1SMC: National Superhero Day edition by making a gift to support the superheroes of SMC!
Dr. Sonya Schuh
Dr. Sonya Schuh is Wonder Woman in her own right! Over the course of the past year, she has helped students cope with the drastic changes in learning and life by being honest about her own struggles, and providing research-based advice and engaging teaching.
She also served as a mentor in one of the only in-person COVID-safe Summer Research Programs (SRP) in the country last year, which allowed her and her students to lasso in the truth about topics such as the effects of plastic chemicals on human health. This led to a record-breaking number of publication submissions, presentations, and awards in her research lab — and will also be featured in an upcoming documentary series!
Dr. Schuh shares that her goal is always to have a little bit of that fierce, unstoppable Wonder Woman spirit inside working to help others, triumph over obstacles and nay-sayers, bring truth and equality to light, and make the world just a little bit better, one person at a time.
You can help fuel this superhero spirit in students like those Dr. Schuh mentors by making a gift on our big giving day — 1Day1SMC. Join us on April 28 and support the heroes of tomorrow!
Save the Date
Save the date for our exciting giving day — 1Day1SMC: National Superhero Day edition!
On Wednesday, April 28 — National Superhero Day — join the rest of our Gael community in celebrating the SMC heroes that have stepped up to the challenges of the past year, and support the heroes of tomorrow — our current and future students.
Chapel Photo Credit: Chris Bombach ’17
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