The clock is ticking and with just four weeks to go before the March 31 deadline, Brock fundraisers are close to securing extra provincial cash so a greater number of students with financial needs can attend the University.

With more than $750,000 raised to date, Brock is less than $48,000 short of its student awards donation target that will secure maximum provincial matching funds. If Brock is successful in its annual Ontario Trust for Student Support (OTSS) Campaign, this will be the third year in a row that the University reaches the extra matching dollars mark.

Under the OTSS program, the province offers matching funds based on how much money universities raise for endowed awards for Ontario students with demonstrated financial need. The deal gets sweeter if institutions meet or exceed established targets. Then the government ratchets up the funding rate from the basic one-dollar-to-one-dollar matching formula.

If Brock raises $48,000 by March 31, the Ontario government will match every dollar donated with $1.27, bringing the total to $2.27 for an endowed student award. This will more than double the total value of student awards to about $2 million.

“Brock’s endowed student awards program, supported by generous donors, helps students meet the ever-increasing cost of pursuing a university education,” says Doug Earle, executive director of The Campaign for a Bold New Brock.

“At Brock, that’s about $17,450 for one year for a student living way from home.”

“The province wants us to find ways to help Ontario’s top students with financial needs get a university education. We are so close to reaching our maximum match to help reach more students and need just a few more donors to make the difference.”