An enthusiastic group of volunteers waved signs and promised free ice cream to passersby in Moseley Oct. 30-Nov. 1. Members of Elon’s Thousand Thanks campaign attracted curious student outside Octagon Cafe who were willing to wait on checking their mail or grabbing a bite to eat.
“Forty-five seconds. That’s all it takes,” shouted Sean Lauwers, one of four Delta Upsilon volunteers. “Free ice cream.”
Lauwers and other volunteers urged students to take part in Elon’s Thousand Thanks campaign, a largely student-driven initiative to write thank you notes to faculty, staff, alumni and others who have donated to the university. Sponsored by the Student Government Association and Student Alumni Council, the organizations aimed to increase participation from last year, when students wrote 1,247 notes.
Now in its third year, the campaign has developed since its inception in 2010 when 165 thank you notes were written during a four-hour period. This year’s effort totaled 16 hours over a span of three days, resulting in a record-breaking 1,563 notes. Volunteers from a variety of campus organizations — from PRSSA to Delta Upsilon — urged students to participate.
Those who chose to participate randomly selected a slip of paper, which was color coded to signify the category of donors. Paper was either dark gold for athletic donors, medium gold for top donors or tan for faculty and staff. Of the faculty and staff, 65 percent donated to the university for a record total of $377,737 last year.
Each donor, from a list compiled by the university advancement office, will receive a handwritten card that has “thank you” written across the cover in more than a dozen languages. The cards are expected to arrive at destinations throughout the country before Thanksgiving.
But they had to be written first. Junior Kelly Smith, who co-coordinated the event with sophomore Carolina O’Brien, said it can be difficult to get students to contribute.
“Our generation is not as inept at getting up and writing a thank you note,” she said. “It takes a little convincing.”
Senior Genevieve D’cruz said she agreed.
“It seems like a burden at this point for a lot of people,” she said.
To motivate students, those who participated were offered coupons to Smitty’s Homemade Ice Cream.
But others found more personal reasons for writing. And some didn’t stop with one card. The majority of students interviewed wrote two or more cards during the course of the campaign. A recurring theme was the importance of thanking the people whose contributions have made Elon what it is today.
“This school is only as good as the people who came before it,” said sophomore Daniel Myers. “The people who help fund this school really help keep our costs down.”
For Myers, the event was a chance to give back to those who have given to the institution. According to Lauwers, many of the organizations that volunteered for the campaign value service to the community highly.
“It really shows people doing more than academics by giving back to the community,” Lauwers said.
Writing the letters has also illuminated the responsibility of emerging alumni. As D’Cruz reaches the end of her time at Elon, she said she has found herself in a giving mindset. She wants to be conscious of recognizing and appreciating the people who have made her Elon experience memorable.
“I think that it’s important to thank anybody who has anything to do with our education,” D’Cruz said. “It is literally two minutes of my day. It’s not going to take anything away from mine and it’s going to add to someone else’s.”