Chair of the Board of Trustees Lisa Lori offered a $15,000 challenge grant to Marywood if 1,500 donors make a donation to the university by the end of the year.

Lori’s $15,000 potential donation will be given to the President’s Innovation Fund, which will give financial resources to Sr. Mary Persico, IHM, Ed. D, president of Marywood, to spend on areas of the university that she deems important.

Lori said she hopes her challenge grant will benefit Sr. Mary’s inaugural year as president.

“I have tremendous faith in Sr. Mary and I thought it was something that might … motivate or encourage others to give,” said Lori.

Renee Zehel, vice president for University Advancement, said Lori wants to encourage alumni participation, specifically in Sr. Mary’s inaugural year as president.

According to Zehel, donors can make a gift to any area of the university to be counted as a donor in the challenge.

“We’re really seeking to encourage giving to the university in general, but we also have this new fund we’re establishing to support Sr. Mary to use for various initiatives through the year that she sees [as] important,” said Zehel.

She added that this gives Sr. Mary the “flexibility to be innovative.” Zehel said many people respond to the pressure of having a short window of time to complete a challenge, which is why the deadline of Dec. 31 may be beneficial to increasing the number of donors.

Zehel said individuals interested in donating can donate online, send money through the mail or drop off a gift in the office of University Advancement.

“There are a lot of people who support Marywood in the external community, and we’re very grateful for that,” said Zehel.

Lori said she is optimistic that there will be 1,500 donors by the end of the year.

“I would say this is a tremendous institution, it really is,” said Lori. “Sr. Mary is a tremendous leader, and I would really like people to support the institution to support her.”

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