CSM Giving Tuesday Demonstrates Spirit of Giving at CSM as 247 Alumni, Employees and Friends Donate More than $137,800 To Support Student Success

With student support at the forefront, the College of Southern Maryland (CSM) Foundation saw generosity in action as 247 individuals provided more than $137,800 during this year’s Giving Tuesday to initiatives that provide scholarships, programming and leadership potential for students at CSM.

“I love that CSM has embraced Giving Tuesday. Not only is it a day to encourage people to kick off the holiday season by being generous, it’s an easy way to unleash the power of people to transform our community,” said CSM Foundation Chair Kim Rosenfield.

A thank you squad of CSM students visited faculty and staff members and made calls to donors throughout Giving Tuesday to personally thank them for their generosity and support of student success at CSM. CSM students Megan Tomasic, left, and Llana Coloma, right, shared their gratitude with CSM employees Anne Buckler, Sidney Person Hammond and Pauline Frazier.

Giving Tuesday’s 24-hour online giving blitz has become an annual tradition since 2012 for CSM’s Foundation, which has focused the giving season on inspiring people to join forces to support the communities they love. This year’s #GivingTuesday, Dec. 3, followed the frenzy of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday.

CSM Development Director Chelsea Clute reported that the top 10 funds at the college that were supported by community members were scholarships established either by CSM alumni, such as the Cox Family Memorial Endowed Scholarship, the Johnston Fehl Endowed Scholarship, and the Jerry and Nancy Zanelotti Memorial Scholarship; or established by CSM employees, such as the Nyce Annual and Endowed Scholarships, the Peter Cangelosi Memorial Scholarship and the John and Ginny Walters Scholarship.


The John and Ginny Walters (shown here) Scholarship supports students who want to pursue careers in criminal justice or teaching.

“Establishing the John and Ginny Walters Scholarship was a great way to honor our father and his wife and their legacy of public service,” said CSM Media Relations Manager Angela Walters Small. “And there is no better feeling in the world than being able to contribute in a meaningful way to eager students who want to learn.”

Small and her family established the scholarship in 2018 at the celebration of her father’s 90th birthday. John Walters spent his career with the FBI and his wife Ginny spent hers in the Peace Corps, and their scholarship supports students who want to pursue careers in criminal justice or teaching.

“We were all overwhelmed with everyone’s generosity on Giving Tuesday,” Small added. “We now have more than $10,000 in the John and Ginny Walters Scholarship Fund and are so excited that we will be able to help students change the trajectory of their lives, and the lives of others.”

CSM Senior Photographer Coordinator Val Nyce, who was a student assistant while she attended classes at the college in the 1980s, described the scholarship as a way to honor her father, who “valued education and instilled those values in me. Supporting the Nyce Scholarship funds is support for all Southern Marylanders, showing confidence in our students and a commitment to our evolving community.”


CSM Senior Photographer Val Nyce, right, receives a personal thank you from Nyce Scholarship recipient Neko Ennis during the annual scholarship reception in November.

“Giving Tuesday is an opportunity for people to respond as they feel moved,” said CSM Program Manager Laurie Cangelosi. She and her family established the Peter Cangelosi Memorial Scholarship after her son’s death seven years ago, and she is “humbled by the continued support for his scholarship. I felt the love for Peter and from friends and anonymous givers on Giving Tuesday who supported his scholarship. The support by those who chose to give anonymously reflects that his impact continues, and the most meaningful outcome for me is that it’s not the amount of what people give, it is simply that they do give.”

Of the 247 donors supporting CSM during Giving Tuesday, nearly 40 percent represented faculty and staff members while 16 percent were alumni. Many generous donors throughout the community also pledged to match donations made to 15 scholarships and programs during #GivingTuesday, dollar for dollar.

Along with the generosity shown to scholarships, the CSM Foundation set a goal to raise support for Student Success, including the Hawk Feeders, athletics and the Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. Center for Leadership and Scholarship Endowment.

There is still time! Follow the link to learn how gifts of every size, contributed on #GivingTuesday by people like you, will help change lives here at home in Southern Maryland. https://t.co/zwROhrwZft pic.twitter.com/AkKvasyanK

— CSM Headline News (@CSMHeadlines) December 4, 2019


“For Giving Tuesday, I supported The Student Success Fund and magnified my gift by donating through The Zonta Club of Charles County so my gift was matched,” Rosenfield said. “The purpose of the fund is to provide financial assistance for eligible CSM students experiencing hardship that impacts their ability to begin or continue their academic education. Too many students make the difficult decision to walk away from college when faced with obstacles that seem to leave them no alternatives. Supporting this fund means I’m supporting opportunities for success.”


Among the top funds supported with $8,000 received during Giving Tuesday, the Senator Thomas Mike Miller, Jr. Center for Leadership to be located in the John E. Harms Academic Building, Prince Frederick Campus, was established in September to honor the senator’s legacy of leadership. CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy describes the Center as “a catalyst for leadership development for years to come,” which includes the Miller Family endowed scholarship, a dedicated seminar room, appointment of a Distinguished Miller Professor for Leadership, and a lecture series for students and the general public. “The Miller Center for Leadership honors Senator Miller’s legacy of supporting opportunity for all Marylanders through access to community college education, as well as the ability to transfer to our partner institutions across the state for students to pursue their bachelor’s degrees,” said Murphy.

“We are grateful for the strong response of our community in giving not only to support the Miller Center for Leadership but for all of the projects at CSM this past Giving Tuesday,” Murphy said. “Each scholarship recognizes someone whose lives have touched ours. Each fund has a story behind its origin, and Giving Tuesday provided the means for people to strengthen their spirit of giving to help others—in this case our students. Helping others and transforming lives in the process is powerful for our students.”

CSM Program Manager Laurie Cangelosi, center, describes the most meaningful outcome for her personally from Giving Tuesday is seeing people choose to participate in the spirit of giving, whether it is for the scholarship in her son’s memory, the Peter Cangelosi Memorial Scholarship, or any other student success project.

For more information about Giving Tuesday and the scholarships supported, see the CSM Foundation at https://foundation.csmd.edu/news-events/giving-tuesday or contact the CSM Development Office at 301-934-7599 or csmfoundation@csmd.edu. For photos from the event, visit https://csmphoto.zenfolio.com/19givetuesday.

About CSM

The College of Southern Maryland is a regional accredited community college that provides programs and services with a special focus on local workforce development to maintain and grow a healthy economy and community. CSM has been named as a top 150 community college from across the country, eligible for the 2021 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. CSM serves more than 23,000 credit and continuing education students at its campuses located in Hughesville, La Plata, Leonardtown and Prince Frederick, as well as a Higher Education Center shared with University of Maryland University College in Waldorf and a Center for Transportation Training in La Plata. For information about CSM, call 301-934-7765 or visit www.csmd.edu.

About #GivingTuesday:

#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving that encourages philanthropy and celebrates generosity worldwide. Founded in 2012 by the 92nd Street Y – a community and cultural center in New York City − #GivingTuesday inspired millions of people to give back and support the causes they believe in. More than $300 million was raised online to benefit a tremendously broad range of organizations, and much more was given in volunteer hours, donations of food and clothing, and acts of kindness. Learn more at https://www.givingtuesday.org/

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