by Lauren Costella, National Volunteer Coordinator
Citizen Service is the very American idea that we meet our challenges not as isolated individuals but as members of a true community, with all of us working together. Our mission is nothing less than to spark a renewed sense of obligation, a new sense of duty, a new season of service..."
-- former President Bill Clinton
"Roger has a sixth sense about the community's needs and how to support the people in it. ... He is the superman of all projects ... and he uses his free time for the betterment of others."
These are the words of Verna Bowie, director of the Southeast Polk Dollars for Scholars (SEP) chapter, when asked to describe volunteer and chapter chair Roger Mahnke. Without a doubt, these words ring very true, given the impact he and the rest of the SEP chapter have in their community. This year alone, the chapter gave out 242 scholarships ranging from $250 to $4,000 -- 51 of which came directly out of the money raised by chapter volunteers.
Roger has always been very involved with the Southeast Polk community, ensuring students have the best possible opportunities for getting a great education. He served as a school principal starting in the 1960s, later moving to the school district office as the director of personnel. In 2001, when the SEP chapter formed, Roger began volunteering his time raising scholarship funds for students. Since 2002 he has been the chair of the chapter; in that time, Roger, the SEP Dollars for Scholars volunteers, and the community as a whole have gone above and beyond to raise as much scholarship money as possible. From payroll deductions and golf tournaments to elementary school hat days and bussing tables for tips, Roger and the SEP chapter volunteers do just about anything to give out as many scholarships as possible. One of their premier events is their annual Mars Dinner Auction (a sit-down dinner and live auction) that, this year, raised over $24,000 in scholarships!
But as Roger will say over and over again, it is not just him making this happen; it is the combined efforts of all the SEP chapter volunteers and the entire Polk community that make miracles happen. But no one can deny that such a close knit community and bond for contributing to education has developed through Roger’s personal touch efforts in connecting with every organization in the community. Roger made it a personal endeavor to visit all the local community organizations and businesses to ask for their help. In fact, he dedicates hours upon hours visiting and meeting one-on-one with people in order to create strong bonds and relationships and garner support for the local chapter. As Verna jokes, “If you want to know a good place to eat, Roger knows the place!”
Joking aside, Roger values the importance of creating these personal relationships and contacts, and when these businesses donate or get involved, Roger recognizes their wonderful contributions. For example, he invites all of these businesses to their scholarship awards night. All these businesses and donors are recognized in their scholarship recognition booklet. The booklets describe the donor or the business and the purpose of the scholarship. Also, business representatives and donors are given the opportunity to actually meet the scholarship student. Students and donors get pictures together at the event. Finally, businesses are given a 12-by-18-inch recognition poster. Those posters can be seen proudly displayed in businesses all over the community, and have actually encouraged other businesses to donate and get involved.
It’s all about building relationships and creating personal contact; these elements make all the difference in shaping the community strength around Dollars for Scholars. People in the community have come to trust and appreciate Roger for his incredible leadership, and of course Roger passes this lesson on to the students who receive a scholarship. Every student is required to write a thank you letter to the donors who contributed to their scholarship. If students fail to write a letter, they don’t get their scholarship. It’s just that simple. It’s vital to thank and appreciate the benevolence of donors. As Roger describes, “We had a family leave their entire estate to the school which has accounted for over $250,000 in scholarships, but students didn’t know who this family was.” This is also why, in addition to thank you letters from students, Roger and the SEP chapter created a donor recognition book that includes all the donors and businesses that have helped with contributing to raising scholarship funds. With this booklet, students, their families and the rest of the community know exactly where and from whom the scholarship is coming from and can then thank them for their kindness and generosity.
Roger and the rest of the Southeast Polk Dollars for Scholars chapter have worked wonders for the students and families in their community. And while such endeavors can be time consuming, it’s the effort and hard work that make the program great. Every day, Roger and the SEP chapter see the incredible impact they are having in students’ lives. In the future they want to be able to give our meaningful scholarships to every single student in the community! It sounds ambitious, but that’s the out-of-the-box thinking that Roger and other chapter volunteers possess. They know that investing in their youth is an investment in the future of the community and the return on their investment will certainly reflect success.
Citizen Service is the very American idea that we meet our challenges not as isolated individuals but as members of a true community, with all of us working together. Our mission is nothing less than to spark a renewed sense of obligation, a new sense of duty, a new season of service..."
-- former President Bill Clinton
"Roger has a sixth sense about the community's needs and how to support the people in it. ... He is the superman of all projects ... and he uses his free time for the betterment of others."
These are the words of Verna Bowie, director of the Southeast Polk Dollars for Scholars (SEP) chapter, when asked to describe volunteer and chapter chair Roger Mahnke. Without a doubt, these words ring very true, given the impact he and the rest of the SEP chapter have in their community. This year alone, the chapter gave out 242 scholarships ranging from $250 to $4,000 -- 51 of which came directly out of the money raised by chapter volunteers. Roger has always been very involved with the Southeast Polk community, ensuring students have the best possible opportunities for getting a great education. He served as a school principal starting in the 1960s, later moving to the school district office as the director of personnel. In 2001, when the SEP chapter formed, Roger began volunteering his time raising scholarship funds for students. Since 2002 he has been the chair of the chapter; in that time, Roger, the SEP Dollars for Scholars volunteers, and the community as a whole have gone above and beyond to raise as much scholarship money as possible. From payroll deductions and golf tournaments to elementary school hat days and bussing tables for tips, Roger and the SEP chapter volunteers do just about anything to give out as many scholarships as possible. One of their premier events is their annual Mars Dinner Auction (a sit-down dinner and live auction) that, this year, raised over $24,000 in scholarships!
But as Roger will say over and over again, it is not just him making this happen; it is the combined efforts of all the SEP chapter volunteers and the entire Polk community that make miracles happen. But no one can deny that such a close knit community and bond for contributing to education has developed through Roger’s personal touch efforts in connecting with every organization in the community. Roger made it a personal endeavor to visit all the local community organizations and businesses to ask for their help. In fact, he dedicates hours upon hours visiting and meeting one-on-one with people in order to create strong bonds and relationships and garner support for the local chapter. As Verna jokes, “If you want to know a good place to eat, Roger knows the place!”
Joking aside, Roger values the importance of creating these personal relationships and contacts, and when these businesses donate or get involved, Roger recognizes their wonderful contributions. For example, he invites all of these businesses to their scholarship awards night. All these businesses and donors are recognized in their scholarship recognition booklet. The booklets describe the donor or the business and the purpose of the scholarship. Also, business representatives and donors are given the opportunity to actually meet the scholarship student. Students and donors get pictures together at the event. Finally, businesses are given a 12-by-18-inch recognition poster. Those posters can be seen proudly displayed in businesses all over the community, and have actually encouraged other businesses to donate and get involved.
It’s all about building relationships and creating personal contact; these elements make all the difference in shaping the community strength around Dollars for Scholars. People in the community have come to trust and appreciate Roger for his incredible leadership, and of course Roger passes this lesson on to the students who receive a scholarship. Every student is required to write a thank you letter to the donors who contributed to their scholarship. If students fail to write a letter, they don’t get their scholarship. It’s just that simple. It’s vital to thank and appreciate the benevolence of donors. As Roger describes, “We had a family leave their entire estate to the school which has accounted for over $250,000 in scholarships, but students didn’t know who this family was.” This is also why, in addition to thank you letters from students, Roger and the SEP chapter created a donor recognition book that includes all the donors and businesses that have helped with contributing to raising scholarship funds. With this booklet, students, their families and the rest of the community know exactly where and from whom the scholarship is coming from and can then thank them for their kindness and generosity.
Roger and the rest of the Southeast Polk Dollars for Scholars chapter have worked wonders for the students and families in their community. And while such endeavors can be time consuming, it’s the effort and hard work that make the program great. Every day, Roger and the SEP chapter see the incredible impact they are having in students’ lives. In the future they want to be able to give our meaningful scholarships to every single student in the community! It sounds ambitious, but that’s the out-of-the-box thinking that Roger and other chapter volunteers possess. They know that investing in their youth is an investment in the future of the community and the return on their investment will certainly reflect success.
Scholarship America's founder, Dr. Irving Fradkin, visited our Minneapolis offices last week in conjunction with our Board of Trustees meeting; while he was here, Dr. Fradkin got to meet a few of the thousands of students and volunteers who make Dollars for Scholars great. We've got a terrific new two-minute video introducing Irv and the folks he met; click on over to the main page of scholarshipamerica.org to take a look. (And keep an eye out for a high-definition version you can watch and share, coming soon.)
And once you've watched the video, check out the behind-the-scenes photos; our Flickr page features not only those, but pictures from our recent board meeting and Indiana Dollars for Scholars' Hoosier Heroes Celebration. (You can also take a look at a slideshow from the event at HoosierHeroes.org.)
If you're a Dollars for Scholars supporter or volunteer, we'd love to see your pictures and videos as well! Contact us and let us know where we can find them, and we'll feature them here.
And once you've watched the video, check out the behind-the-scenes photos; our Flickr page features not only those, but pictures from our recent board meeting and Indiana Dollars for Scholars' Hoosier Heroes Celebration. (You can also take a look at a slideshow from the event at HoosierHeroes.org.)
If you're a Dollars for Scholars supporter or volunteer, we'd love to see your pictures and videos as well! Contact us and let us know where we can find them, and we'll feature them here.
Last week, founder Jordan Goldman of Unigo.com appeared on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet, shown on Fox affiliates across the nation; in addition to discussing Unigo's unique services -- college reviews and advice by college students, professors and more -- he also mentioned Scholarship America among the resources that can be found there. To see the video and learn more about the site, check out the video post on The Morning Show's Web site.
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