College exceeds CVC participation goal

Giving through the CVC Verasak Singhaseni, a project manager with facilities management, donated money during CVC Harvesting Good(s) event in October 2008. The annual campaign raised more than $109,000 for people in need. Photo by Stephen Salpukas

by Alexandra Bracken ('09) | February 19, 2009

Despite trying economic times, the faculty and staff of the College of William and Mary still understood the importance of giving to those in need. From Oct.1 to Dec. 15, they raised $109,421.82 for the annual Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign.

"This was the first time that we exceeded our participation goal for the CVC," said Carla Costello, the CVC coordinator for William & Mary. "[We had] 368 donors and our goal was 350."

The fundraising campaign is held among state employees and asks for donations of any size, with the idea that even $1 or $2 can have a positive impact on someone's life. Employees have the opportunity to choose from about 1,300 charities and can make their donation as either a one-time lump sum, or through an automatic paycheck deduction. No overhead was charged for the contributions, so 100 percent of the donations went directly to the charities.

This year, one of the most popular charities with College employees was the Virginia State Employees Fund, said Costello The fund is set up to allow state employees to directly help one another and is similar to HACE's Employee Assistance Fund that already exists at William & Mary.

Organizers and participants alike are counting this year's campaign as a huge success. Costello attributes much of that success to CVC committee members "whose dedication to giving is a reflection of the values of William and Mary."

"With all that was going on in 2008 and the bad economy, I think the campaign was outstanding," said Costello.

For more information about the College's campaign, visit http://www.wm.edu/cvc/.