ST PAUL, Minn. — College Possible Minnesota, an organization that serves thousands of students across the state, says it recently received $1 million from an anonymous donor.
The organization says the gift will help support College Possible's "mission to make college admission and success possible" for under-represented students.
“This donation reflects a strong vote of confidence in the work of College Possible and will allow us to serve more students in Minnesota while continuing to improve the effectiveness and impact of our programs,” said Vice President of Site Leadership and Interim Executive Director JR Tomkinson. “Although these funds were just received, we will be working with the Minnesota team to develop a plan to invest them where they’ll have optimal impact for College Possible Minnesota and the students we serve.”
The organization's senior director of external relations, Isaiah Allen, says the donation came as a shock.
"This is representative of significant work that we can do in our community. Also, it just kind of blew me away -- that level of generosity. It's indicative of Minnesota," said Allen.
Allen went on to say the donation is by far the largest individual contribution in the organization's history.
"Coming out of the pandemic, so many nonprofits have struggled with their funding streams and we are not immune from that. This provides us with some stability and a new position to look at what are some strategic investments we can do," said Allen.
College Possible Minnesota has helped students across Minnesota for nearly 23 years. It has worked with more than 2,000 high school students and 3,000 college students, primarily coming from under-represented communities and first-generation households. College Possible matches students with mentors to guide them through the college admissions process and to complete their degrees.
Programs that are part of the organization are offered at no cost to students and their families, "thanks to the generous support of its funders and partners."
Benjin Thao, a College Possible Minnesota alum, heard about the organization his junior year of high school and says without the support, he wouldn't have gotten into and through college.
"Honestly I had no clue how to prepare for college … College Possible really helped literally run everything I needed to know to get to college," said Thao.
As a first-generation college student and the child of Hmong immigrants, Thao says he is fortunate to have had the support of the organization throughout college and now works for them as a junior coach.
"[College Possible] helped me so much and engrained such a footprint in my life that I had to come back and help out," said Thao.
For more information on College Possible Minnesota, visit CollegePossible.org/Minnesota
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