Stitching Together a Culture of Giving
SCHOLARSHIPS: COFC FUND SCHOLARSHIP, HONORS COLLEGE DEAN’S EXCELLENCE FUND
We all take a little piece of the College of Charleston with us when we graduate. And when Rhonda Whiting saw all the CofC clothing her daughter Miranda Whiting Lank ’15 brought home upon graduation, she decided to put all those pieces together to make one big College of Charleston quilt.
“I did a little Googling to find out how to make a quilt from T-shirts, mashed together a few ideas and made something that my daughter ended up loving,” says Whiting, a loyal annual donor who has been giving to the College of Charleston ever since Miranda’s freshman year in 2011.
Making multiple gifts throughout the year in support of various online fundraising drives, Whiting and her husband Bill have supported many areas on campus, including the history department, the School of Humanities and Social Sciences Dean’s Excellence Fund, the Student Emergency Fund, the College of Charleston Fund and the Parents’ Fund. And, as a Cougar Online Ambassador, she has also led the way in encouraging fellow parents to support the College. But it wasn’t until she saw how much her daughter loved that first CofC quilt that she thought of combining her sewing skills and her dedication to giving back to the College.
“I figured I could put this together and maybe it could be used as a fundraiser,” says Whiting, who gave her second quilt to the Annual Giving Office to use as a prize for the student philanthropy organization, Committed to Charleston. “I thought it could be used as a fundraising incentive – to attract students to join.”
She was right – in fact, the students loved it so much, Whiting has made another quilt for 2018.
“I’m happy that I have found a way to give back using my talent,” says Whiting. “It shows that donations don’t all have to be big financial gifts.”
After all, when you have enough little pieces, they add up to something big.
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