Friday, May 18, 2012

A Reason to Celebrate—SMART Goes to College


Thank you to everyone who joined us on May 2nd for SMART Goes to College, our 4th annual fundraiser and celebration of SMART Scholar achievements. The evening was filled with inspirational stories and anecdotes from SMART staff, board, and school administrators, as we celebrated the impact of SMART, not only on the youth we serve, but on our community, and on our independent partner schools. We heard from Dennis, SMART’s featured student speaker and a senior at Lick-Wilmerding High School, who announced that he will be attending the Southern California Institute of Architecture in fall on a merit scholarship.
Dennis, SMART's featured speaker at
SMART Goes to College

Dennis explained that he grew up sharing a 200 sq/ft SRO (Single Resident Occupancy) unit with his parents and his young sister, and at an early age, was overwhelmed with a desire to redesign his world. He went on to say, “I kept drawing in my youth unsure of how to become an architect. My first golden ticket came in the form of SMART. To be an architect, I had to get a proper education. I had to get the BEST education. SMART offered me a placement into a private school that was the best fit for me, and supported me through with tutoring, mentoring, and after-school programs.”

Thank you to Dennis, and to everyone who celebrated with us! In addition to the wonderful accomplishments of our Scholars, SMART is also celebrating the generosity of our community! The fundraiser was a great success, bringing in more than $210,000 in support of SMART programming and Scholar sponsorships. To our donors, volunteers, partner schools, Scholars and families, thank you for your partnership in this very important work.

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