Letters were mailed last week, about 800 in all, calling on a carefully selected contingent of the Manhasset population to donate whatever they could to a local organization that for the last 50 years has helped its youth finance their college tuition.
The mailing is the Manhasset Student Aid Association’s primary fundraising initiative of the year, and if it seems like understated fanfare, it’s by design.
“We’re not a glory organization, we don’t get a lot of attention, we don’t do any of these big events, but we’ve really changed lives,” said Jean O’Malley, the association’s vice president.
“The kind of people requesting this kind of help don’t want to shout it from the rooftops,” she said, “but I’ve received some beautiful notes over the years from students who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to go to college.”
The Manhasset Student Aid Association, also known as the MSAA, awards between $60,000 and $70,000 in grants and interest-free loans to approximately 25 students each year.
To be eligible for assistance, students must send an application to the organization detailing financial information, including scholarships from their colleges of choice and any financial aid awarded.
Students tend to apply for MSAA grants and loans on their own, but the organization maintains a relationship with the Manhasset High School guidance department, which often identifies to the organization students in need of assistance.
Public and private high school students are eligible to apply, as are undergraduate and graduate-level college students, but they must live in Manhasset each year they apply for MSAA grants.
Applications are then reviewed by the MSAA’s selection subcommittee, which is comprised entirely of Manhasset residents who assess student need based on financial and family factors, such as whether an applicant has a sibling who is also financing college tuition.
Primary donor organizations to the MSAA include the Plandome Women’s Club and the Congregational Church of Manhasset, and O’Malley said approximately 400 households donate on an annual basis.
“We’re very careful not to waste our donor’s money,” O’Malley said. “We sit down and we crunch the numbers, and then the board votes on a particular amount.”
But O’Malley said a crucial component of the organization’s selection process is that the board – and in particular MSAA President Tom Maimone – seldom meet the students who receive funds.
“It’s important also to note that our board members, their children were not the recipients of this money. They’re not related in any way, neighbors or friends,” she said.
“We have a combination of students [who apply], those who have gone to Ivy League schools and there’s no place else for them to turn for money, no uncle with deep pockets or legacy connection to any school,” O’Malley added. “But they’re really tremendous kids who’ve achieved a lot.”
Added Maimone: “The rewards of this work are best expressed in notes that our students send back to us. They are profoundly grateful to be given this opportunity to better themselves,”
A celebration for the organization’s 50th anniversary is tentatively set to take place in November. O’Malley said the MSAA is also seeking board members and applicants. Its deadline is June 1.
“It’s a very good feeling that we’ve managed to keep the ball in the air that long,” O’Malley said. “We’ve been very consistent in our help, the amount of money each year we give each student has gone up…I’m just very proud of this group of people.”
