[Image above] Credit: GivingTuesday.org; YouTube
The frenzied shopping days of Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday are finally over. We’ve spent money on family, friends, and ourselves. Now it’s time to focus on giving back.
Today is Giving Tuesday, a day set aside for individuals to support their favorite charities and nonprofits. It’s a day where “millions of people come together to support and champion the causes they believe in and the communities in which they live,” according to the Giving Tuesday website.
And if you work in the ceramic, glass, or materials sciences industries and have enjoyed a lucrative career, why not consider supporting the next generation of talent?
The American Ceramic Society established the Ceramic and Glass Industry Foundation (CGIF) to “help industry attract and train the highest quality talent available to work with engineered systems and products that utilize ceramic and glass materials,” according to its mission statement on the CGIF website.
Donations to the CGIF go toward supporting various student outreach efforts, including travel grants, student exchanges, and student leadership development. The foundation also provides Materials Science Classroom Kits to science teachers with limited resources to get middle and high school students excited about science.
“Giving Tuesday is an opportunity to support the charities you care most about,” CGIF development director Marcus Fish says. “By supporting the CGIF today, you will be helping to inspire and encourage students to consider careers in ceramics, glass, or materials science.”
Since its inception, the CGIF has helped dozens of university students from around the world participate in ceramics and glass conferences, technical meetings, and summer school programs with travel stipends. The Foundation has also distributed more than 500 Materials Science Classroom Kits to teachers worldwide.
It also conducts hands-on ceramic and glass materials demonstrations for over 360,000 students, teachers, and parents at the USA Science and Engineering Festival. The Foundation participates in many local STEM conferences and state fairs, presenting and demonstrating experiments from the Materials Science Classroom Kits to teachers and students across the U.S.
At the college level, the Foundation provides opportunities for current students to develop leadership skills through its support of the President’s Council of Student Advisors. It continues to support students in their job search by providing a platform that brings together employers and job seekers through its Ceramic and Glass Career Center.
Fish notes that since the Foundation started in 2014, ACerS has matched every dollar, to a total of nearly $900,000—and will continue to match donations up to $1,000,000. “So no matter what the size of your donation, your gift will be doubled by the ACerS match,” he explains.
Students and teachers alike are grateful for the support of the Foundation.
“…The kit in general is a great resource; the practical application is really what helps make the material so relatable for the students. Thanks again for all of your support of teachers.” –K. Broerman, Centerville (Ohio) High School
“I cannot express enough my sincere gratitude to ACerS for the travel support, as otherwise this fantastic experience would not have been possible for me.” –W. Huddleston, Case Western Reserve University
“My experience working in Professor Ikuhara’s lab at the University of Tokyo for a summer showed me the value of building my international network early in my career.” –J. Angle, University of California, Irvine
You can read more of the Foundation’s successes on its website at this link.
Ready to participate in #GivingTuesday by supporting the efforts of the CGIF to attract and inspire future generations of ceramic and glass professionals? Visit this link to donate online. And to those of you who have already donated to the Foundation, thank you for your continued support.
For more information about the CGIF, read its latest annual report here.
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