You Fuel Our Success!
Many of you have asked how parents and friends can best support the teams. The reality is that the support of parents and alumni is critical to keeping fencing at Cornell, and to expanding access to team and individual travel, team bonding activities, team gear and support with psychological training and epee coaching for the Men's team. Here is the list of current initiatives and their impacts:
The Annual Fund. Target $125,000 yearly. The annual fund is our number one priority each season, as it is the amount required annually by Cornell University Athletics. This fund covers maintenance of the Salle and its equipment, coaches’ salaries, team travel and meals, and basic workout gear and fencing equipment for the teams. This is a great place to donate if you want to support all fencing at Cornell. We do a large portion of this fundraising during Cornell Giving Day in March. We have a target of 320 individual donors during Giving Day.
The Pat DeNeale Fund. Target $100,000 over 4 years. This fund is looking for donors willing to give a set amount over 4 years. Pat DeNeale was a men’s fencer who learned to fence in college and became extremely successful. He recently passed away after a battle with Cancer, and asked in his eulogy that something good come from his passing. This endowment will establish an award for the most improved Men’s and Women’s Fencer each year. The new award will be introduced at the 2023 Spring Fencing Banquet! This fund will also support team bonding at the ropes course each year, and additional funds will go to team meals during social events.
The Nina Farouk Travel discretionary fund. Donations to this fund allow the coaches to help fund the men’s team travel as well as individual travel for athletes trying to make national teams. This fund is crucial in supporting our athletes’ training and access to competitions.
If you are interested in supporting one or more of these initiatives, please don’t hesitate to email or call coach Ariana Klinkov. You can also donate directly to the Fencing Program through Cornell Athletics - donations will by default be directed to the Annual Fund, please indicate if you would like them to be put into a specific fund.