This Giving Tuesday, please consider donating to the Scots’ Charitable Society. Below, please find our annual appeal letter from our Treasurer, Jeffrey J. Barr.

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Dear Friends and Members of the Scots’ Charitable Society:

The Scots’ Charitable Society has been helping prospective students of Scottish descent attend college for over 30 years. We started with modest grants to a handful of students to twenty-six students receiving collectively in excess of $95,000 this past summer. I received a scholarship from the Society in 1970. College tuition back then was quite a bit less than it is today. The scholarship was a big help for me even though I was working while also being a full-time student. The cost of college has risen so dramatically that it is unaffordable for many students and families; this concerns me.

The Scots’ Charitable Society has been part of my family for three generations. Both of my grandfathers (one used to play football for the old Glasgow Rangers in the late 1910s), my father (who was born in Lanarkshire, Scotland), and me. I became a member sometime around 1980, and I was elected Treasurer in 1981. I held that position for 15 years until my personal and business life began to take over. After spending 40+ years working in corporate finance, I retired in 2019. In January 2022, I was again elected Treasurer, following Fred Hoffman’s retirement from that position. For me, it is a way of giving back to the Society and carrying on the tradition set by my father and grandfathers of “Scots helping Scots.”

Over the last 365 years, the Society has cared for the sick and indigent, buried the dead, housed the poor, and helped Scots attend college. I recently came across an interesting statistic that I wanted to share with you: the Scots’ Charitable Society has given out close to $1.1 million in scholarship awards over the last 10 years, which is a great achievement! As we try to position the Society for the next generation, your help is needed more than ever.

Your tax-deductible gift of $25, $50, $75, or an amount you are comfortable with will make a difference in the lives of prospective college students, and your donation will also help us to continue our mission of helping other Scots in need of help.

Thank you,

Jeffrey J. Barr
Treasurer
Scots’ Charitable Society