02/28/2019
By
Beth Brosnan
UMass Lowell’s annual Days of Giving last just 48 hours, but for many of the more than 2,500 donors who participated last year, the giving goes on all year.
Take Patrick Kiley ’18. As a public health student, Kiley rose through the ranks to become assistant manager of UML’s nationally recognized Emergency Medical Services program.
He credits EMS with giving him the leadership experience he needed to land a job as an assistant safety officer at Lahey Hospital in Burlington. “I want to do anything I can to give back to EMS,” Kiley says, and that includes creating a $1,250 matching gift challenge as part of this year’s Days of Giving.
“Days of Giving is a terrific opportunity for members of the UML community to support the programs they care about most,” says Deidra Miles, director of annual giving, who hopes to rally 2,800 donors on April 9-10.
Giving back is also second nature for Linda Barrington ’04, ’16, service learning coordinator for the Francis College of Engineering. Not only does she connect engineering students with service learning opportunities at community nonprofits, but she has also endowed a scholarship that has already sent six students on international service learning projects.
A proud Days of Giving supporter, Barrington would like to see 100 percent participation by UML faculty and staff: “Even though we already give students our time and expertise, that doesn’t help them pay their bills. Days of Giving sends a message to our students that this is a caring community.”