Fill the Hill had a record-breaking amount of donations and donors this year, bringing in over $500,000 for various colleges, groups, scholarships and funds, with over 2,000 donors, Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association Director of Annual Giving Betsy Popelka Massnick said.
“This was a record-breaking year for us with Fill the Hill efforts,” Massnick said. “We had our largest ever number of gifts, donors and dollars raised overall for the event. We’re really focused on gift count, we’re really participation based and so we’re really excited that all the numbers across the board were our highest ever.”
The fundraising tradition began with a prank put on by the Shovel and Pail Party in 1979, according to Fill the Hill’s website. One of the original members of the party attended this year’s event to celebrate the tradition of the flamingos and see how the event has progressed into a symbol of support for UW, Popelka Massnick said.
Numbers are still being finalized, but the Great People Scholarship received the most donations of the participating groups, Popelka Massnick said.
The Great People Scholarship awards need based scholarships to low and moderate income Badger students who would otherwise be unable to attend the University of Wisconsin, Office of Student Financial Aid Associate Director for Special Awards and Student Engagement Lauren Klink said.
“It’s a great program that has really increased access to lower income students throughout my entire time in financial aid, which is about 15 years now,” Klink said.
The funds donated during Fill the Hill will be used to help expand access and reach a greater number of students who would not have been able to attend UW, Klink said.
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The scholarship is for any low to middle income students who have financial need, not just Wisconsin residents, allowing talented students, regardless of their background or financial situation, can attend UW, according to Klink.
“I just want to say, of course, a really big thank you to all of the people that contributed to this gift,” Klink said. “This is a scholarship fund that isn’t necessarily made up by any one donor. It’s one of these almost grassroots events where there’s a lot of different people that contribute whatever they can to allow this scholarship to exist, because they all believe in helping other Badger students who may not have otherwise been able to attend the institution to come to UW-Madison and pursue their dreams.”
