Having trouble reading this email? Staff Giving Newsletter December 2019 Dear ExampleContactFirstName, Thank you so much for your support of Staff Giving in 2019. I'm delighted to say that this year has seen the highest ever number of staff join this wonderful program and you're one of 337 staff making a big difference! Thanks to your generosity and that of your Staff Giving colleagues, 47 life-changing scholarships will be made available in 2020, for students who are excelling in their studies but facing financial hardship.  Watch the thank you video below from some of the students helped this year.  Thank you to those of you who volunteered to  buddy a scholarship recipient this year. If you're keen to get involved next year, please register your interest below. We've had a few fantastic Staff Giving related activities in November, so please check those out below. Our Staff Giving vision for 2020 is to continue to raise awareness for this program and welcome more staff to the program, so we can help more students in need. If you would like to help us do this, we can talk through a range of options. Please get in touch at staffgiving@griffith.edu.au. In closing off for 2019, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to you as a Staff Giver and wish you a magical, relaxing and happy holidays! Professor Martin Betts DVC (Engagement) Chair, Staff Giving Committee P.S. We'd love to hear from you if you have any questions/suggestions at staffgiving@griffith.edu.au Thank you! Because of you, 47 life-changing scholarships will be made in 2020. The impact that these scholarships have on students is truly remarkable, like Jaimee-Lee Hesse who says:                        “Thank you to all those donors. You've given me the opportunity to study as hard as I can and achieve my dream of becoming a forensic scientist." Please watch a short thank you video from the students above. Who wants to be a Staff Buddy in 2020?  One aspect of the Staff Giving Program is the Buddy Program. This is a voluntary program which pairs a Staff Giver with a scholarship recipient to provide support and advice throughout the year. This can be coffee catch ups or just a friendly face to chat with at various planned activities and events. Please note that this is not an academic mentorship and no knowledge of the students study area is required. However, if you would prefer a student from a particular discipline, then that’s something we can look to match up. You can find out more about the Buddy Program here.   Please let us know by registering your interest by Monday 3 February 2020.  Corporate Services making a cash splash The first ever Corporate Services gathering on 22 November, saw  nearly 600 ready-to-party  staff, transforming the new N79 space to a retro and vintage world. They were extremely proud that $1,590 was raised for three charities. Staff Giving is so thankful to have been chosen and received $530 from these efforts. This also included the gold donations for their dunk tank throws on the day. Check out Peter Bryant, Vice President, Corporate Services and Staff Giver in his before and after dunk shots. Volunteering to land in a bucket of freezing water is not for everyone, but it was probably quite refreshing on what was a 30 degree day! If you have any events planned in 2020 that Staff Giving could possibly be involved in, then we'd love to hear from you.  Science staff + students + scones = great results Professor Andrew Smith, Pro Vice Chancellor (Sciences) and Staff Giver, recently hosted two morning teas in November, on the Gold Coast and Nathan campuses, to promote the Staff Giving Program.  Science staff got to meet some wonderful Science scholarship recipients who shared how much their scholarship has meant to them this year. This resulted in seven Science staff joining the program. Tariq Rea (opposite), a scholarship recipient in his third year of a Bachelor of Civil Engineering / Business Management, attended the Nathan event and said:  "I'm very grateful for my scholarship. I was able to buy a laptop to replace my outdated very heavy laptop that took ages to do things. I believe this has significantly helped to increase my GPA this year".