Employee, Retiree Campaign Brings In $822,856

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Posted on May 18, 2018

Jeb Schrenk

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University of South Alabama employees and retirees raised $822,856 during the 2018 South Fund annual giving campaign, the second-largest total since the program’s inception 15 years ago.

The money will go to scholarships, research, health care needs and other University activities.

“By supporting ‘our own,’ your investment in the University of South Alabama reaffirms that faculty, staff and retirees believe in USA’s mission and its transformational impact on the community,” Dr. Tony Waldrop, USA president, told donors. “And through gifts that support needs such as endowments, student scholarships and life-saving equipment at USA Health, you are changing lives today and for future generations.”

In addition to the campaign’s name change this year to the South Fund, this was the first year for USA Giving Day.  Employees raised more than $100,000 on March 22, a 24-hour giving initiative that brought in $364,368.

During the South Fund campaign:

• Gifts, pledges and matching dollars totaling $822,856 marked a 14 percent increase from last year.
• Fifteen new endowments were established, and 131 undergraduate scholarships were supported.
• Matching gifts totaling just over $200,000 were made by USA benefactor Abraham “Abe” Mitchell through the Mitchell-Moulton Scholarship Initiative. 
• Fifty-seven percent of employees contributed.
• Retiree giving increased 176 percent with a 35 percent increase in donors.

At a reception announcing the campaign’s end, Renee Rogers, nurse manager of the Hollis J. Wiseman Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at USA Children’s & Women’s Hospital, spoke of the impact the gifts have on equipping her unit. Holding up a photo of a 9½-ounce baby, she said, “This is why we raise funds, so we can give our families hope.”

That baby, Rogers said, is now 8 years old and is doing fine.

Joshua Missouri, coordinator of Veterans Affairs and a U.S. Navy veteran, spoke of the importance of supporting scholarships.

In doing so, “we promote the success of our community. We support individuals who have served our country,” he said. “Let’s give them the honor they deserve. Let’s help other people succeed. Let’s give hope and continue to support scholarships throughout Jag Nation.”

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