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Class Pages : Class of 1957

Class of `57 Fall 2006 Update Letter

October 3, 2006

Dear 1957 Classmate,

This is an exciting time for our class -- our 50th Reunion at Northfield Mount Hermon is quickly approaching!  Plans are underway for a wonderful weekend on June 7-10, 2007 and, as part of the planning, the Reunion Gift Committee has established its objectives for the final year before this milestone event.  The principal purpose of this letter is to outline the fundraising goals for the year and to ask you to begin planning your response to the class representative who will call within the next few weeks.

The most important contribution of the alumni to the financial health of NMH is to the Annual Fund, as this appeal results in income that underwrites a portion of the school's annual operating expenses, providing fundamental and immediate support to the school’s greatest needs.  Planning for this year's Annual Fund drive for our class in its 50th reunion year has centered on three specific objectives:

• to attain the participation of at least 70 members of our class and raise at least $75,000 in contributions

• to achieve a level of total contributions that accurately represents our collective appreciation of what the NMH experience has meant to us -- and done for us -- during our most productive years; and
• to achieve a level of total contributions that maintains a high standard for subsequent 50th reunion classes.

 

Accordingly, we hope that when a classmate calls, you will already have considered the level of your contribution for the year, and that it will be generously higher than it has been previously. If you have not contributed previously, or if you haven't in recent years, please consider participating in this special anniversary year.

Because the 50th reunion is a once-in-a-lifetime event, we hope you'll also consider it a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show your appreciation of NMH by considering an additional gift to the Class of 1957 Albert and Virginia Raymond Scholarship Fund. The Class of 1957 Reunion Gift Committee has agreed to establish an endowed scholarship in memory of Al and Virginia Raymond. Al Raymond made music a special part of our Mount Hermon experience whether you were a participant or a recipient and his wife, Virginia, had a special meaning for the Northfield women. As of this month, just over $79,000 has already been pledged to this important endeavor.  Beginning next fall, each year the Director of Financial Aid will name a student scholar who will write the class a letter and we will be able to experience NMH today with a current student.

The decision to create a scholarship fund is driven by a simple but profoundly important philosophical commitment: that the most useful thing we can do as a class is to help make the NMH experience available to fully qualified young people from more families for whom the financial burden would otherwise be prohibitive.  Since our parents or sponsors wrote their last checks to Mount Hermon for our tuition, room, and board, the annual price of this precious experience has increased from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands. Moreover, the price is several thousand dollars below the actual cost per student incurred by the school.

As you consider your response to the caller regarding both the Annual Fund and the Class of 1957 Albert and Virginia Raymond Scholarship Fund, we urge you to think not only about cash contributions but about appreciated stocks, bonds nearing maturity, and real property. Please note also that gifts to the Class of 1957 Al and Virginia Raymond Scholarship Fund are payable over a five-year period. It is important, however, that postponement of payment to subsequent years not diminish your commitment to the Annual Fund.

For many, perhaps a planned gift would be appealing.  Consider the benefits you receive from a life income gift (e.g. a charitable gift annuity or a charitable remainder trust).  Consider including NMH as a beneficiary in your will or living trust or designating the school as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy, an IRA or other retirement plan.  You will hear more about those options from our Planned Giving co-chairs later this fall, and your class caller will be prepared to alert specific members of the professional Advancement staff to assist you in this arena.

But we ask for more than your financial support! A large number of our classmates have already signaled their intentions to attend the reunion, and we ask you to schedule it now if you haven't already done so. Committee activity has brought together many of us who haven't seen one another for fully 50 years, and we look forward expectantly to many more such renewals of friendship in June.

With thanks and warm regards from members of your Class of 1957 Reunion Gift Committee,

           
Chuck Streeter                       Darrell (Coop) Cooper                       Paul Reyes

Class Volunteers
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Class AF Goals & Giving
NMH Annual Fund : Class Progress July 1, 2007 - June 30, 2008

Class and School	Giving to Date	Pledges to Date	Goal	Donors to Date	Pledges to Date	Donors Goal
1957MH	$49832	$4413	$75000	49	5	60
1957N	$7780	$3118	$15000	58	3	75

Last Update: June 27, 2008

 

Class of 1957 Photos
Various Photos Alumni Events Photos



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