Spirit of Generosity

Tis’ the season  –not only for finishing up papers and preparing for finals, but also for giving.  The tradition of fund-raising for charities is a long one at Davidson.  The YMCA Annual Report for 1930-1931 notes

Possibly one of the most notable reflections of the influence of the “Y” on Student Life is the spirit of the Annual Student Body gift administered through the “Y.” This gift is made each year to some worthy mission cause either at home or abroad. Such a custom contributes to the development of the spirit of generosity in our men and the responsibility for the support of worthy causes.

While other student organizations had service projects, the YMCA’s gift fund led the way in campus-wide fund-raising into the 1960s. As the annual report noted, the monies raised usually alternated between gifts to local missions and ones to foreign projects.  Frequently the foreign mission work selected had a Davidson graduate involved.  One of the most popular local recipients was the Davidson Unity Church, formerly known as the Mill Chapel.  Monies went to support student pastors and educational programs.

In the 1920s, students usually raised about $1000 dollars, during the Depression that amount dropped. The 1932-33 report explained that $300 was given “for the support of the student pastor at Davidson Unity Church or ‘Mill Chapel’ which is our own work. The remainder of the amount raised was pledged to scholarships for students at Glade Valley High School in Ashe County. In the past nearly one thousand dollars have been raised in each drive. This year economic conditions made it impossible to reach that goal, but enough money was raised to meet our first objective and to make a very substantial contribution to the Glade Valley project.”

President John Cunningham with Y Gift Fund goal

In 1938-39, the YMCA changed its usual approach of canvassing every student and held its first non-pressure Christmas Gift fund campaign. They raised slightly under four hundred dollars and then added enough from the Sunday night Vesper offerings to make the total five hundred dollars.  The Y report stated. “Our aim in this new method was to abolish all external compulsion, and leave it squarely up to the individual student to give as much or as little as he felt led to do. We felt that it amount given was not as important as the spirit in which it was given.”

Y Gift Fund Drive 1953-54

After the 1955 campaign, the Y board created a  17 member committee to “to study the purpose and approach of the YMCA Gift Fund.”   One result was to have educational programs about the projects selected for donations, another was to commit two having both a local and a foreign charity selected each year and finally, the campaign was moved from Christmas into the spring (in some years, it was called the Easter gift fund)

By the mid-1960s, other campus groups were promoting new campaigns and the Y gift fund was replaced by new projects.  None have achieved the longevity of the Y Gift Fund but they still reflect that spirit of generosity and sense of responsibility to support worthy causes.

This last weekend the women of Warner Hall hosted their 5th annual Red and Black Ball with a goal of $20,000 to go to a hospital in Mwandi and the Chaplain’s office along with the Interfaith Fellowship sponsored the 18th year of the Alternative Gift Fair – and on any given week during the academic year, there are students raising funds for causes and keeping a spirit of generosity alive and well.