The Reaching New Heights Scholarship Dinner brings together Butler Foundation scholarship donors and sponsors to meet with the students benefitting from their generosity. This is the second year the event was held as a dinner, rather than a lunch.
“Students, we know these donors have made a difference in your life through the gift of scholarships,” President Kim Krull told those in attendance. “But you always enrich their lives by showing them the difference their contributions make.”
Foundation Executive Director Tom Borrego was the guest speaker for the event. Borrego began his role at Butler in June. His educational story is one many students can identify with – overcoming obstacles. Growing up in a working class family, Borrego is a first-generation college graduate who was able to achieve his goals thanks to scholarships and other financial aid.
“For the past 26 years I have been advocating for students, senior citizens, the sick, and projects that help the community,” Borrego said. “But my favorite has always been bringing the stories of students to donors because their story is a story of hope.”
The stewardship event is intended to pair donors with the student receiving their scholarship, but sometimes that is not possible in instances where the donor is deceased. Members of the Foundation Board of Directors and Butler administrators fill in where possible to educate the students about their donor and the scholarship they received.
“More than 200 donors and students had the fortune to attend this event and learn from each other,” Assistant Director of Development & Scholarships Averie Nelson said. “Without the incredibly generosity of donors, this evening would not be possible and so many educational hopes and dreams would not come to fruition.”
The Foundation will award nearly $1 million in scholarships this academic year (2019-2020).
Sponsors for the event were Professional Engineering Consultants, Roberts Hutch-Line, Susan B. Allen Memorial Hospital, Gravity::Works Architecture, and Regier Carr & Monroe, LLC.
