Over one hundred Foundation Alumni revisited campus last Friday, Sept. 21, to take in an evening of song, dance and music.
The FUsion Gala Show was envisioned by FU Alumni Association, as led by President Charlotte Cariño, to be a “fusion of classical, jazz and pop music” to raise funds for the Foundation Alumni scholarship program.
The evening’s line- up brought together a diverse array of performers — from marching band to singing priests, from classical choir compositions to the cutting edge iPad rock band.
Marivel Alayon, FU Alumni Director helped to make the first benefit show in four years a reality. An alumnus herself (year 2004), Marivel joined FUAA almost two years ago, and has been busy collaborating with President Cariño on new, enticing ways to engage alumni both on campus and virtually, via a growing Facebook network (www.facebook.com/pages/FU Alumni Association Inc).
Marivel was thrilled to see over one hundred alumni at the Gala Show. Because of their support, the benefit show was able to raise funds to support three alumni scholars by covering 50% of tuition costs. All alumni scholars are carefully selected by the FUAA. They must be at least third year students, maintaining a GPA of 87% with no failing grades. There are over one hundred students currently benefiting from an academic scholarship.
One such scholar, Ms. Mimin Badon, shared her testimony between acts, saying that the funds have supported her and her family, “not just financially, but also emotionally. This scholarship, is a constant reminder to me of the importance of giving all throughout my life, and that I will be willing to do as much for others in the near future.”
The FUAA is already revving up for its next big event, the Alumni Homecoming on December 8, 2012. In the lead-up to that festive evening, the fundraiser “63-for-63” will be launched soon — building off of the success of last year’s “62-for-62” raffle which raised P170,000 for the student scholarship fund.
The “63 for 63” project invites friends and members of the Foundation University community to give P63 in exchange for a bookmark-cum-raffle ticket, which will be drawn during the Alumni Homecoming.
P63 may not be much for many successful alumni and friends, but the fundraiser reminds us all that when we act together, each individual donation, no matter how small, can go a long way towards helping others. (Amy Villanueva)