Donor Stories
Each year individuals, corporations and foundations provide essential support for Metro State. Each gift, like each donor, provides proof that both Metro State and those that support the College share in its mission. The following donor stories attest to this ongoing regard.
Margaret Rivera - Helping Others Achieve Their Dreams
Margaret Rivera is one loyal Roadrunner. This alumna’s devotion to Metro State is an amazing three decades long and counting. “I’ve had a love affair with Metro since it began,” confirms Rivera, past president of Metro State’s Alumni Association Board and, since 1989, a member of the College’s Foundation Board of Directors, in addition
to a host of other past volunteer posts.
“Education should be lifelong,” says Rivera, who graduated in 1980 with a degree in urban planning. “You should never stop. The beauty of Metro is it allows working adults to further their careers. And, of course, the faculty make Metro what it is. They are so incredibly dedicated and always available to their students.”
As a single parent working full time, when it came time for Rivera to fulfill her dream, Metro State gave her the opportunity she craved—the chance to earn her bachelor’s degree after seeing her daughter through college first. After graduating she was spurred on to continue her education, earning her master’s degree in 1985 from the University of Colorado at Denver.
Every year since, Rivera has donated both her time and money to Metro State, starting with a $50 gift in 1987 and building to the recent $2,000 Rivera Scholarship, which supports a single working parent, in any major, who is a Colorado resident and graduate of a Colorado high school.
Of the scholarship, Rivera speaks from the heart when she says, “I know that when you go back to school while working full time and supporting a family, it may be hard to qualify for a need-based scholarship, yet, at the same time, very difficult to find the funds to return to school. I wanted to help others achieve their dreams.”
– Vonalda M. Utterback
Navin Dimond - Opening the Door to Higher Education
Metro State’s Department of Hospitality, Tourism and Events has a champion in Navin Dimond and his hotel development and management firm, Stonebridge Companies. Dimond, president and CEO, has overseen gifts this fiscal year of $4,255 to the Metro State Stonebridge Companies Scholarship and $10,000 to the Pacesetter Scholarship Program—bringing his total giving in excess of $72,000 since 1999.
The Stonebridge Companies Scholarship lines up beautifully with the Stonebridge business model by aiding a Metro State student majoring in hospitality with a hotel emphasis. Supporting scholarship programs is the right thing to do, says Dimond, a 10-year member of Metro State’s Foundation Board of Directors.
“Life is about opening doors, and college is a very big door for many people,” he adds. “The message of a scholarship is, ‘We want to invite you in and help you through the door of higher education.’
“Education gives hope and the means to better the world. I want to direct Stonebridge’s giving to where I think it has the most impact and will be most beneficial in the community.” As the first in his entire extended family to earn a college degree, Dimond, who holds a B.A., B.S. and master’s degree, knows it often takes help and support to open that door and successfully make it out the other side. This is why Stonebridge Companies’ four-year pledge of an additional $40,000 to PaceSetters means so much to Dimond. PaceSetters is designed for first-time and first-generation college students.
“Metro State has secured a very special space in my heart by helping to make college a reality for first-generation students and many others who never dreamed it was possible to obtain a college degree,” says Dimond. “If we can make a difference in one person’s life, then it’s all been worthwhile.”
– Vonalda M. Utterback
Janus Foundation - Investing In the Community
(l to r) Susana Nieto and Tracie Papantones
Recently surpassing the $1 million mark in total giving to Metro State, including $20,000 in scholarship support this fiscal year, the Janus Foundation finds giving to Metro State’s scholarship programs is in perfect alignment with its goal of “helping people go further in education and therefore in life,” according to Tracie Papantones, vice president and community relations manager for the Janus Foundation. “We want to help eliminate some of the barriers to a college degree and we recognize financial considerations as one of those barriers,” she adds.
According to Papantones, the Janus Foundation giving program has always had a primary focus on education, along with a strong commitment to at-risk youth, which makes Metro State’s Pacesetter Scholarship Program a perfect fit for the foundation. “We are proud of the fact that we were the largest contributor to the first cohort of Pacesetter Scholarship recipients,” says Papantones.
Two-year Janus scholarship recipient Susana Nieto is from Peru. Her life goal is to first get experience in the nonprofit world and then start her own nonprofit organization that helps connect Americans to Peru.
“I’m a missionary and everything I do is as a volunteer,” says Nieto. “Without the scholarship I wouldn’t be able to continue my education. It is a blessing.”
Adds Papantones, “Supporting education, and in particular Metro State’s innovative programs, is the Janus Foundation’s long-term investment in our community.”