2007 Vol 1 No 1

First Quarterly Progress Report to our Contributors and Supporters From the very beginning the focus of the founders and directors of the ConVal Community Scholarship Foundation (CVCSF) has been on finding a way to meet a very special and important need. We were not interested in setting up just another well intentioned and worthy scholarship program. The population of young students we want to help is those with potential, disadvantaged for whatever reason, and who, without identification, targeted mentoring, academic support and financial assistance, have limited perceived incentive for finishing high school. Lacking hope of affording learning opportunities beyond high school, some of these can be expected to drop out intellectually before they stop showing up for class. Helping these students to finish high school and proceed to postsecondary education and job training is not just philanthropy. It is about workforce, community and economic development. It is about preserving a precious natural resource we cannot afford to lose - our declining population of young people. Those who came together around this concept formed a 501 [c] [3] nonprofit corporation, invited volunteer participation and solicited financial support. This is described more fully in the enclosed statement of “The Case for Giving to CVCSF” which you have seen before, so we won’t incorporate more of that in this progress report. The only change in our plan since this was written is that in the paragraph describing “The Plan” we have increased the first two-year scholarships to $5,200 ($2,600 per year) or higher, to assure that the bar is set at a level no lower than half of the annual tuition charged at New Hampshire Community Technical Colleges.

Highlights

First Quarter, December 19 2006 to March 31 2007 December 19, 2006: A presentation announcing CVCSF launch was made to ConVal School Board by Treasurer, Christine Clinton. January 2007: A committee of the ConVal Guidance Department, coordinating with the CVCSF Awards, Mentoring and Academic Support Committee (hereinafter (Awards Committee), reported selection of nineteen possible candidates for CVCSF awards. February 2007: Following ConVal Guidance Department selection and recommendation to the CVCSF Awards Committee, ten candidates for first phase participation were recommended to and approved by CVCSF Board. February 18, 2007: Congratulatory letters were prepared to be hand delivered to the selected students via guidance counselors with copies to parents via Guidance Department Head, Joe Hayes. February 20, 2007: An informal partnering agreement between CVCSF and Big Brothers Big Sisters for early identification and mentoring support for candidates for CVCSF scholarships was announced in the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript. December to March, various dates: CVCSF President made presentations to Monadnock Rotary, Peterborough Kiwanis, Peterborough Lions and scheduled April presentation to Antrim-Bennington Lions Clubs. March 27, 2007: New Hampshire Ball Bearings pledged three years of support for CVCSF, joining the Gilbert Verney Foundation, the Monadnock Rotary Club, Ocean National Bank, the Toadstool Bookshops and Ames Financial Planning Associates as organizations supporting the CVCSF initiative. March 31, 2007: Forty-three donors responding to our first quarter mailing of 214 letters have joined sixteen founders and directors giving us a total of fifty-nine individual contributors so far in addition to the organizations mentioned above. The rate of response to our mailing is in excess of 21%, a very positive sign. The total of cash and pledges received from inception is a little over $49,000, a solid beginning. What more can you do to help? As grateful as we are for what you have already contributed, you can help us get the word out to others. There is room in our organization for additional volunteers with time and energy to contribute, as board members or otherwise. We could use help by volunteers with grant writing public information and public relations skills. Send us your questions or suggestions in the enclosed low budget addressed envelope. Or just pass along the enclosed extra copy of “The Case for Giving to CVCSF” to someone you think might be interested. Most of all, thank you for helping us begin. Our mission is “To inspire confidence and hope with community support to help more students in the ConVal region achieve their potential.”