The Unity Gardens of South Bend needs your help in their 7-acre garden! Come join your fellow colleagues, rain or shine, on Tuesday, April 27th from 9AM-Noon. There will be weeding, mulching, seeding, and more, with an opportunity for a tour of their space. Tools, gloves, sunscreen, and water will be provided; we just ask that you bring a mask and hands that are willing to get a little dirty! If interested, please sign up here.
ND RD March Madness Final Bracket
Walk the Walk: Paris to Berlin
Have you ever wanted to travel to Europe? Maybe visit the Eiffel Tower in Paris or sip your way along the wine trails of Bacharach, Germany? Well, now’s your chance! Beginning on Monday, April 19th and concluding on Friday, April 30th we will be walking our way from the glamorous streets of Paris to the glorious and gritty city of Berlin. All you need are some walking shoes, a step counter, and an adventurous attitude and we’ll take care of the rest! You’ll be receiving fun facts and photos along the way as well as nutrition tips and healthy recipes. Click here to sign up for a team, and if you have any questions please contact Amy Plotkin.
Welcome Polly Elizabeth Meyer to the Notre Dame family!
Volunteering for the COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic
Volunteers are needed for the University’s on-campus vaccination clinic that will administer the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer) from Thursday, April 8 through Thursday, April 15 in the Compton Family Ice Area. This University-wide event is particularly important to ensure all those wish to be vaccinated have the opportunity. For all information regarding this event, please visit https://here.nd.edu/health-safety/covid-19-vaccination-information/.
Rest assured, as a volunteer, you will not be administering the vaccines. Rather, volunteers are needed to greet people when they arrive, check in individuals for their scheduled appointment, assist the vaccinators as scribes, run supplies, schedule individuals for second dose appointments, direct people and so on. Several volunteer roles require use of technology and access to the system that the Indiana Department of Health utilizes to manage appointments and registration. This system is simple to use and you will receive the necessary training on-site. Other roles require no training or use of technology.
Please feel free to sign up to volunteer here and for multiple shifts if your schedule allows. We need up to 100 volunteers each day (50 volunteers per shift) to operate the clinic.
Information confirming scheduling will be sent to you at least one day prior to your shift. Lunch or dinner will be provided depending on your scheduled shift. If you have any questions, please contact vaccine@nd.edu.
NOTE – Volunteers will also be needed for the 2nd dose clinic to be held on Thursday, April 29 through Thursday. May 6th. Volunteer requests for the second clinic will open soon.
UR April Birthdays
Happy Birthday to all our colleagues celebrating their special days in April! No fooling, we’re so glad to have you on our team!
4/1 – Amy Plotkin
4/1 – Jessica Rizzo
4/1 – Steve Sollmann
4/1 – Tara Reilly
4/3 – Mike Connaughton
4/3 – Noell Stohler
4/5 – Margriet Kapluck
4/6 – Austin Gammage
4/6 – Cindy Karpovs
4/6 – Conor Montijo
4/8 – Amanda Mckee
4/9 – Bill Gangluff
4/11 – Matt Rombalski
4/12 – Joe Dietz
4/12 – Katy Orenchuk
4/15 – Amy Mason
4/18 – Dean Ernzen
4/18 – Jeff Faust
4/19 – Kristina Machalleck
4/19 – Rose Michalski
4/20 – Mark Helmke
4/22 – Darlean Vance
4/22 – Rachel Parks
4/23 – Kat Gardner
4/24 – Angie Dennig
4/27 – Katie Kerby
4/27 – Marie Labosky
4/27 – Ryan Brennan
4/27 – Sheila McMahon
4/28 – Mary Frank
4/30 – Andrew Frye
Congratulations Pablo Martinez and Sorin Society Team
Colleagues,
Please join me in congratulating Pablo Martinez and his appointment as the Director of our newly formed Sorin Society Giving team. This team is charged with the growth of Sorin Society membership and revenue, as well as the marketing, stewardship, and experiences offered to the members of Notre Dame’s largest giving society.
Pablo has been a valued member of the Annual Giving team for 10 years, leading initiatives and programs including the Phone Center, reunion giving, matching gifts, and Notre Dame Day in that timeframe. Most recently, Pablo has served as an Associate Director of Development focusing on individual asks for giving society gifts, this year alone raising $380k in incremental unrestricted dollars as well as a leadership gift for financial aid. A 2011 Notre Dame graduate, Pablo got his start as a student caller in the Phone Center.
The newly formed Sorin Society team will consist of:
Conor Montijo, who continues to oversee the operations, mass solicitation, lead generation, and stewardship experience of the Sorin Society. Conor is also the primary contact for Regional Directors on Sorin Society renewal, new, and upgrade asks; Austin Gammage and Leah Corachea as Leadership Annual Giving officers focused on driving incremental unrestricted growth through individual fundraising; and Darlean Vance, Donor Experience Coordinator. Dar provides frontline customer service via email and phone for members of all giving societies.
Please reach out to any of these fine colleagues with any questions regarding the Sorin Society.
Best,
Brian
Farewell to Kaitlin Lucero
I write today to share the bittersweet news that Kaitlin Lucero will be leaving the University of Notre Dame to pursue an opportunity at Johnson & Johnson in their Regulatory Affairs division effective April 13, 2021.
As Assistant Director of Annual Giving since 2019, Kaitlin has overseen a variety of projects spanning all areas of Annual Giving—particularly giving society and fund-level renewal solicitations. Kaitlin has been an amazing teammate for all of us and we are delighted for her as he moves on to the next chapter in her story.
God Bless and Go Irish!
Brandon Tabor
Congratulations to Dr. Colleen Cross
I am pleased and grateful to announce that Dr. Colleen Cross will begin serving in the role of Assistant
Director of Foundation Relations starting June 1, 2020. Many of you know Colleen, as she has been with
FR since December 2018, first as a Graduate Fellow and currently as a Postdoctoral Research Associate
after earning her Ph.D. in Peace Studies and Systematic Theology from Notre Dame in Summer 2020.
Colleen has greatly supported the work of FR through her curation of over 200 funding opportunities for
faculty on our website, key benchmarking and research projects, and the development of more than a
dozen proposals to foundations. In her new role, Colleen will have her own portfolio of foundation
proposals and will support the other FR fundraisers on larger foundation proposals, as well as with
research and special projects.
I would like to thank all of you who have met with Colleen since she started in Development years ago,
and I know that Colleen is looking forward to connecting with more of our colleagues as she begins this
new position in service to the University. Please join me in congratulating Colleen on her upcoming new
role.
-Michelle Joyce
UR Walks Tomorrow!
Hello UR Team! If you are interested in joining us for this week’s UR Walks, please fill out this form. We will meet at 12pm at the Grotto tomorrow, Tuesday, March 30. As there may be some non-pavement, trail walking, we advise that appropriate footwear be considered. Signing up also helps us to contact those who are interested just in case we need to cancel at the last minute due to inclement weather. We look forward to seeing those in person for this fun exercise. Please keep in mind that we will be observing public health CDC guidelines. We ask all participants to properly wear a face mask at all times during the walk and social distance. Happy trails!