Will Your Gift Put Us Over the Top?

A message from Marv Stocker, chair of the Mountain Fund.

This is my third year serving as the chair of the Mountain Fund. I was a volunteer on the Mountain Fund committee for about five years under Mike Hahn before he asked me to take over for him in 2013. I said yes for one main reason – Fr. Dan Riley. We were actually at St. Bonaventure University (SBU) together in the mid 60’s but I didn’t really feel his impact on Bona’s until I joined the National Alumni Board in 2003. 

Living with my family in Baltimore, I could not get up to campus or to Mt. Irenaeus as often as I would have liked, but we held an alumni board meeting at the Mountain. What a beautiful place of peace, quiet and love!

In 2006, my wife and I went on SBU President Sr. Margaret’s Carney’s Franciscan Pilgrimage to Italy.  Fr. Dan was also on that “good journey.” We spent six days in Assisi together visiting the many mountain retreats of St. Francis – La Verna, Greccio, Eremo delle Carceri and San Damiano. I realized then how fortunate St. Bonaventure University was to have a Franciscan retreat just 45 minutes from campus. Fr. Dan’s vision 30 years ago had brought a part of St. Francis’s life to Western New York – a peaceful retreat for Bona’s students, alumni and friends, as well as students from other local colleges and community members.

So, when I was asked to chair the main fundraising effort – The Mountain Fund – I, of course, said yes.  We have many volunteers who help with the calls, all out of love for the friars and the Mountain.  I’ve been inspired by how graciously our calls have been received. Fundraising can often be a difficult task, but that’s not the case for the Mountain Fund. Almost all of our past donors thank us for the call and are eager to donate again.

Our end date of May 31 catches some by surprise so they appreciate being reminded. While the Mountain is supported in part by St. Bonaventure, more than 34 percent of its annual operating budget comes from the Mountain Fund. This year we hope to raise close to $200,000 – as of the writing of this article, we are already 90 percent there.

I want to thank all of our donors who continue to contribute to the Mountain Fund. Your gifts are very much appreciated by Fr. Dan, Fr. Lou, Br. Joe and Br. Kevin and will help guarantee the next 30 years of our “Diamond in the Rough!!” 

Sincerely, Marv Stocker, St. Bonaventure class of 1965