Tis the season for matching gifts! We have begun using a new service called Double the Donation for more timely automation of matching gift claim reminder prompts for our benefactors. Gifts over $10,000 will NOT be receiving those automated messages. If you have specific prospects you do not want to receive automatic messages, let me know.

Due to this exciting change, I will more regularly be sharing matching gift lists with you all, especially during year end giving. This list includes all assigned prospects who made a gift between July 1 and November 24 and as of November 24 had not yet made a claim.

I’ve compiled a short list of some of our top matching gift companies with a December 31 deadline or other notable deadline for your quick reference.

As always, you can check any employer’s matching program details at: https://giving.nd.edu/ways-to-give/matching-gifts/

You can contact me via email at lcurry@nd.edu with any matching gift questions.

-Leslie Curry

Included in your planning for the upcoming holiday break, please ensure that your requests for pre-break payments are forwarded timely for processing. During this high volume time, we ask that all requests for vendor payments, employee reimbursements, etc. be forwarded as soon as possible.

We will make every effort to generate pre-break payments for all requests received on or before the end of day on Friday, December 17. Requests for payment received after that time may not be processed until after break as our efforts will be focused on those received by the deadline. Please allow additional time for us to process requests for new or international payees due to potential tax or other compliance issues that may arise.

Please be aware of this timing. Also, please consider using your Procurement Card for eligible, small dollar transactions.

Should you have any questions or concerns regarding the processing of your requests during this time, please contact me. If you have an emergency payment situation that may arise during the break, please notify us at acctpay@nd.edu which will be monitored.

Happy Holidays!

Ed Verhamme
Accounts Payable Manager

Thank you to all who came to the Family Room or ZOOM yesterday to hear our colleague Darlean Vance and her family share the story of her grandson Bennett. If you are interested in donating and/or sharing their story with others, the gofundme page can be found here. Thank you for embracing a member of our greater UR family!

– Brian Diss

Happy birthday to all our UR colleagues celebrating their special days in December! We hope you have a holly jolly birthday!

12/2 – Kristin Schoenfeld
12/3 – Megan Macri
12/3 – Tom Cummings
12/4 – Mark Welch
12/4 – Tim Willis
12/5 – Hugo Manriquez Diaz
12/5 – Steve Nekic
12/6 – Pablo Martinez
12/6 – Wieslaw Kosidlak
12/7 – Curtis Claypool
12/8 – Karen Deak
12/8 – Kristin Trosper
12/9 – Abigail Spica
12/12 – Dolly Duffy
12/13 – Rudy Reyes
12/16 – Jerry Barca
12/18 – Kim Borza Donaldson
12/18 – Mike Schultz
12/20 – Lea Barthuly
12/22 – Pam Mullin
12/23 – Ben Moeller
12/26 – Andrew Owens
12/29 – Ken Heckel
12/29 – Luke Conway
12/30 – Sherita Jackson

The Notre Dame Family will be celebrating the Advent and Christmas season at our inaugural Gold and Blue Christmas Concert from Notre Dame LIVE on Wednesday, December 8th at 8:00 PM ET at go.nd.edu/jolly.

UR staff and families are invited to attend the concert in person at Leighton Concert Hall, free tickets are available at the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Ticket Office starting at 6:45 PM, December 8th. Because this will be a live broadcast, doors close at 7:45 PM. Please contact Lin Wang with any questions.

Dear UR,

Please join us in welcoming Stephanie Washington to the DC Team! Stephanie transitioned from her role as Marketing and Communications Coordinator in the Alumni Association, a position she held since 2018, on 11.11.21. Many of us know Stephanie from our Covid lockdown days for her impactful contributions to the UR DEIU dialogue. She has been a MyND3 Communications Advisory Group Member since 2019 and an Employee Resource Group Committee Member since 2021. Previous to her ND tenure, Stephanie worked for the South Bend Community School Corporation, in church work, and as a youth counselor. She holds a Bachelors degree in Law and Society from Purdue University. In her free time, Stephanie enjoys playing video games with her 7-year-old son, Dante.

Deena and Lori

As you may have noticed, coffee options for the past few weeks in ESC have been difficult. We thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to resolve this situation. The current supply chain issues as well as some on-campus policy shifts around Keurig machine requirements has caused us to pause and evaluate options going forward.

The great news is that we have a solution we are working to set-up and the not so great news is that it will most likely be between mid-December/early January before the installation can be complete. I am hopeful it will be sooner rather than later.

• For coffee drinkers:
  • We are installing two (2) brew-to-cup machines for coffee (dark and medium roast), hot chocolate and cappuccino.
  • The two (2) machines will be identical in terms of options offered.
  • The locations will be in the Cafe (replacing the current machine) and the Catering Kitchen (adjacent to the Family Room).
  • These are more sustainable options as no k-cups or paper filters are utilized. The machine will grind the coffee beans based on the cup size chosen (8 oz, 10 oz, etc.)
• For tea drinkers
  • We will install a single stand alone keuring in the ESC “One” copier area (south end of the suite adjacent near Du Lac room).
  • This machine will be for tea (we will continue to stock Green & English Breakfast teas) or your own k-cups.

In order to install the new machines (they are Keurigs), a different type of water filtration system is required. These filtration systems are currently being installed in the various sinks so they are ready when the machines arrive. We anticipate the machines being on campus sometime in mid-December.

Please note, the water coolers that are in the Cafe and the northside copier area are staying put and will be available as always.

Thank you all for your patience and understanding as we have worked to find a solution that can work for the team.

If you do have any questions, please feel free to reach out the Lana Taylor or Dawn Smith.

Dear UR family,

Mark Futa has shared the news with me that he has accepted a position as Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Carleton, Inc. Mark’s last day will be February 25th, 2022. We are sad to see Mark leave the University but the Central team could not be happier for Mark. Mark is a tremendously talented leader who has been a good friend to us all. He has faithfully served Our Lady’s University and his benefactor families for four years with pride and integrity. We will miss his self-deprecating humor and willingness to do whatever was required to make the team better. I, personally, will also miss his tremendous example as a father as he always employs that right balance of love and discipline for the betterment of his kids. Fortunately, though, Mark will remain in the area so we look forward to seeing him around town and at St. Joe High School sporting events. Thank you so much, Mark. God bless you, Marla, and the entire Futa family. We wish you well in your new ventures.

Jason Scarlett