Scholarship Announcement

About 1

Scholarship Announcement 1

2014 Scholarship Recipients 2

2014 Events Recap 2-3

Upcoming Events 3

RVF Team Growth 4

RVF Insight 4

The Ralph Verde Foundation (RVF) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to

supporting academic achievement. Established in March 2012, the Foundation

was founded in the memory of Ralph Verde, who passed away of a terminal

brain tumor in 2011 while completing his senior year at Yale University. Ralph’s

belief was that education was the cherished means to any goal. In alignment

with this philosophy, RVF’s mission is to support educational development,

reward high-achieving students for their successes, and inspire academic

excellence by propagating Ralph’s story. The organization supports students

financially and academically by awarding high school seniors with college

scholarships and by concurrently sponsoring education-related service

activities. To date, the Foundation has organized nineteen events and has

secured over $70,000 in donations and sponsorships, and in 2014, RVF

awarded two high school seniors with $10,000 in scholarships. RVF maintains

a readership of over 1,000 subscribers and a team of 14 volunteers, two of

whom were inducted in 2014.

About the Foundation

RVF College Support Workshop

TBA (tentatively January)

New York, NY

RVF Scholarship Award Deadline

February 1, 2015

PVHS-RVF Volleyball Invitational

April 18, 2015

Little Falls, NJ

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R V F C A L E N D A R F E AT U R E D I N T H I S I S S U E

Ralph Verde’s Yale senior portrait

2014 Annual Edition The Ralph Verde Foundation Newsletter Jan. 1, 2015

RVF hopes to further the dreams and successes of others who are just as ambitious, well-rounded, and

resilient as Ralph and demonstrate a strong commitment to making a sustainable and lasting difference in

society. The Foundation is planning on granting two 2015 high school graduates with scholarships. As of

now, over 500 New Jersey school districts have been contacted for application solicitation, but we hope

we can expand the range of applicants outside of New Jersey with your help. If you have friends or family

who are graduating high school, please let them know about RVF’s scholarship opportunity. To access the

application, please refer to www.theralphverdefoundation.org. Along with the application, candidates are

required to send an unofficial high school transcript to ralphverdefund@gmail.com. The application

deadline is scheduled for February 1, 2015. To see our 2014 RVF Scholarship Award recipients, see page 2

of this newsletter.

2014 Top Corporate Sponsors 4

SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS As part of the Foundation’s three-prong mission – to develop, to reward and to inspire – RVF’s scholarship program was established to support accomplished high school students in their pursuit of a college degree. The cost of a college degree in the United States has increased substantially over the past few decades; student loan debt continues to pile up on American college grads, topping over $29,000 per student last year. In 2013, RVF granted four students $17,000 in scholarship awards, and in 2014, RVF granted another two students $10,000.

Below are the 2014 RVF Scholarship Award recipients:

RVF Scholarship Award recipients are given their scholarships in annual increments rather than in lump sum amounts. The Foundation hopes to use incremental awarding as a means to developing meaningful “mentor/mentee” relationships between RVF members and RVF Scholarship Award awardees. By establishing these longitudinal relationships, the organization will be able to identify how it can provide additional support to these students going forward.

2014 EVENTS RECAP

2014 RVF Online Raffle

April 1, 2014

Because of the success of the Foundation’s first online tricky tray

fundraiser in 2012, RVF hosted a two-week online tricky tray fundraiser.

With the generosity of its constituents and sponsors, the Foundation

was able to give away five gift cards, three prize baskets, sport tickets, a

bakers rack, a communications lesson from Jezra Kaye , and more.

Thank you to all who contributed to the event’s success— RVF raised

over $1,500!

Isabella Grabski

Princeton University

Suraj Shah

Tufts University

College Application Workshop at University Neighborhood HS

January 4, 2014

The Ralph Verde Foundation hosted a college support workshop at the

University Neighborhood High School in NYC. RVF partnered with

faculty to coach students on all areas of the college admissions process,

including the college search process, the application itself, and resume

building.

The RVF Scholarship Award Recipient Lunch

July 28, 2014

The RVF hosted a scholarship dinner benefiting those who received the 2014 Ralph Verde

Scholarship Award at Francesco’s Restaurant in Woodland Park, NJ.

2014 EVENTS RECAP (cont.)

The 2nd Annual RVF Charity Dinner

October 29, 2014

The Ralph Verde Foundation hosted a dinner, sponsored by Setton Farms, featuring

panelists Barry Kirschner (The Valerie Fund), Doug White (Columbia University), and

Floyd Rumohr (Apple Arts/Love Heals) in NYC. Over 80 guests were in attendance

and the event raised +$9,000. A special thank you to all guests and organizations

that attended and/or donated at the event!

UPCOMING EVENTS

College Application Workshop at University Neighborhood HS

Date TBA

The Ralph Verde Foundation will be hosting a second college support workshop with students from University

Neighborhood High School in NYC. RVF will coach students on all areas of the college application process,

including the college search process, the application itself, and resume building. If you’re in the NYC area and

would love to volunteer, send us an email at ralphverdefund@gmail.com.

PVHS-RVF Volleyball Invitational

April 18, 2015

Passaic Valley High School will host its fourth annual volleyball tournament benefiting RVF before the beginning

of the men's high school volleyball season. RVF will be present selling concessions, memorabilia, and snacks.

Come support the PVHS team kick off their season!

PVHS-RVF Volleyball Invitational

April 5, 2014

Passaic Valley High School hosted its third annual RVF Invitational Tournament to

kick off the high school men's volleyball season. Ten high school teams

participated in an effort to prepare for the lengthy season. All net proceeds from

concessions and entry fees were donated toward the 2015 RVF Scholarship

Award and the Colin McNeill Scholarship Fund. With the help from community

members, the event raised $2,500.

Join the Team!

Do you have a passion for service like us? Do you

have great ideas on how to help us grow? Do you

want to help high school grads obtain the

education they never dreamed of? Send us an

email with your contact information with “Join the

Team” in the subject.

Donating Items or Funds

Yes. We can use your assistance with growing the

Foundation through donating items or money. All

proceeds ($1 or $1,000,000) will go to helping

others. Visit our website to learn more about how

your gift can help.

Come out and Support RVF

The RVF has been apart of and has thrown many events

thus far ranging from dinners to sporting events to

community service events. Our officers and loyal

members would love to see you participate. We have

grown substantially because of the tremendous support

we have received thus far. Keep it up!

Spread the Word to Raise Awareness

As mentioned before, we love seeing you at our events.

We also love seeing new faces. The Foundation reaches

over 500 email contacts, 375 Facebook contacts, and

200 twitter followers which is a great start! We have

surpassed our goal of obtaining 1,000 constituents!

Help us spread our mission - we would love to hit the

next thousand soon. Tell friends, family and/or

strangers about us and have them send us an email to

get them on our contact list.

ralphvedefund@gmail.com

The Ralph Verde Foundation is only as strong as its supporters.

48 Harrison Street

Little Falls, NJ 07424

ralphverdefund@gmail.com

January 1, 2o15 Annual Edition

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The Foundation has grown tremendously since its establishment and has added two new

members over the past year:

RVF Team Growth

Top 2014 Corporate Sponsors

Contribute!

Setton Farms Uber JetBlue Equinox Gym

Cynthia Figueroa Marybeth Benton

DC Event Chair Program Chair

RVF Insight FastWeb.com and CollegeAnswer.com are valuable scholarship search tools. While there are plenty of national scholarships, don’t neglect to look closer to home as well. Many local organizations offer private scholarships, and the competition for these awards is often less intense.