At the end of Block 6, we also sat down with Monique Brunson Jones, president and CEO of the Evanston Community Foundation, the secondary beneficiary for NUDM. Here's what she said about ECF's partnership with DM.
I understand that ECF has been the secondary beneficiary for NUDM for the last 18 years. How would you describe your relationship with DM so far?
Excellent, excellent, excellent. The idea that the students want to do more than just raise the money, but want to learn about the issues is what we're here to do – the idea that we're able to provide a view into the Evanston community about the issues at large is what we love being able to do.
Getting the energy from you guys really helps us go back into the office and try to do better and do more – because you can get burned out if you're in this field for a long time. It can really bear on your soul a little bit. So being able to see that energy, not only tonight, but throughout the process is really great.
We're now at hour 17. How do you feel about that?
I haven't been here the whole time – I was here for kick-off. I'm a little worried – I see people with ice packs on their knees, and I have a little mothering instinct right now to make sure everyone's okay, but it seems like everyone's having a good time.
What would you like the people in the tent to know?
I would like them to know that, in partnership with them, we have been able to offer a great amount of funding and support to the entire Evanston community, which is what we stand to do.
As a foundation in Evanston being able to partner with Northwestern students on providing a broader spectrum of services to Evanston, I'm so proud that they're wanting to do it, and they're doing it to the degree that they're doing it, because without it, we wouldn't be able to do as much work as we can.
What sort of impact will this fundraising have?
If you think, in one year, we're able to give about $600,000. A sixth of that comes from what you give. So we would miss out on being able to fund close to 10 organizations. And that's a loss if we weren't able to make that, and they need that money. And those organizations would not have the capacity to apply to be a beneficiary and even a secondary beneficiary.
What's your favorite DM dance move?
