Reise Family Foundation makes inaugural donation to new Mohawk Mountaineer Scholarship Fund
The new Mohawk Mountaineer Scholarship Fund got a kickstart with its inaugural donation, a $5,000 contribution from the Reise Family Foundation.
The hope is that the fund will grow such that it can fully offset the value of athletic scholarships granted – about $110,000 – each year.
The demands of being a varsity athlete makes it extremely difficult for students to have a part-time job, says Athletic Director Matt Ferreira. In fact, their training, practice and game-day schedules are more than a part-time job in themselves.
About half of the College’s 130 varsity athletes are on scholarship and even more are supported by bursaries, says Ferreira.
“Scholarships are a really important recruitment tool, but they are also important to student retention and graduation rates. Those are key metrics in our high-performance varsity program.”
Leo Reise says the Reise Family Foundation was established in 2017 by his mother Geraldine to carry on the decades of philanthropy of she and husband Leo, a war veteran, pro hockey player and successful businessperson.
The elder Reises were strong supporters of education, sport and health. Those are the pillars of the foundation governed by their three sons and several of their seven children.
Reise says he’s proud to support athletes at Mohawk, where his son Steven played varsity rugby. His wife Donna and a niece are also graduates.
“We have been blessed as a family and it is our responsibility to give back to those not as fortunate as we have been. Our parents taught us that. This fund is great unifying work for our family.”