Endowment Fund closer now to 3 Million Pesos
Newer members who joined UPAA Toronto recently may not be aware that our Association, through UP Foundation in Diliman, maintains an Endowment Fund that has two components - a Professorial Chair and a Scholarship Fund. This Endowment was started in 1992 and through efforts of past councils, it grew to roughly 2.2 million pesos as of March 31, 2010.
Last September 16, 2010 our Treasurer, with the approval of Council, transferred the amount of $15,292.40 (US$14,600.00 ) to UP Foundation's bank account in PNB New York. This amount represents your Association's latest augmentation to the Endowment Fund. At the current rate of 44.30-to-1USD, this addition amounts to roughly 646,780 pesos.
Of this, 180,000 pesos are to be added to the Professorial Chair, and the rest, roughly 466,780 pesos, are to be added to the Scholarship Fund. The Professorial Chair component will then have a principal of roughly 1.25 million pesos while the Scholarship Fund will stand roughly at 1.65 million, for a total Endowment of close to 2.9 million pesos.
We told UP Foundation that it is our desire to extend the Scholarship Fund to more recipients. Prior to this augmentation, only one student gets our scholarship at any one time. With the new scholarship principal, two recipients will benefit from hereon.
We also expressed our desire to receive semi-annual reports on the status of both Professorial Chair and Scholarship Fund. We submitted a Report Form for UP Foundation to use in their next reporting which we expect in the coming weeks.
I take this opportunity to thank our past leaders who initiated and helped in the creation of this Endowment and all the other well meaning members who in one way or the other have assisted in raising funds through all these years. I take pride in this Council's extraordinary effort in holding a very successful golf tournament and netting from it $13,260 that went to this year's augmentation. A second tournament is scheduled for May 29, 2011.
In our own little way, UPAA Toronto hopes to assist in emancipating of our people from chronic poverty by raising funds here and making them work there to sustain the quality of tertiary education at UP and to extend its educational services to poor students who have good potential for success but who could not otherwise afford a UP education.
Joe Zagala
President
