CLASSNOTES
why i give
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Wise gift will help feed students
The Wise Family (l-r): Hale (Class of 2019), Halsey, Harrison, Lisha, Olivia (Class of 2019), and Cole.
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s parents of four, two of whom are UGA students, Halsey and Lisha Wise could not imagine their children having to choose between buying books for class and buying food. “College life is already full of stress and challenges— adding hunger to this equation is difficult to understand,” Lisha Wise says. More students will be able to concentrate on their education and worry less about finding meals thanks to a significant six-figure gift from the R. Halsey Wise and Lisha S. Wise Family Foundation. Their donation supports the Let All the Big Dawgs Eat food scholarship, which provides UGA meal plans to students facing food insecurity. All or part of tuition costs are covered through financial aid for these scholarship recipients, but most still work two or three jobs to make ends meet.
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A majority also send money home to help support their parents or other family members. Let All the Big Dawgs Eat, founded by Robin Hoover (BSEd ’83) in 2014, is an integral part of UGA’s commitment to need-based scholarship programs. The Wises, who are involved with a local food bank in their hometown of Jacksonville, Fla., are happy to help those students who are most in need. “In addition to helping the student, we are able to relieve the stress of their parents, who will know that their child will have access to UGA’s impressive food system,” Lisha says. Thirty-two food scholarships were awarded this semester. In addition to these scholarships, the Wises’ gift also supports an endowment aimed at helping eliminate food insecurity on campus.