{"id":3786,"date":"2024-07-01T16:07:37","date_gmt":"2024-07-01T16:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=3786"},"modified":"2024-07-06T15:03:12","modified_gmt":"2024-07-06T15:03:12","slug":"morefield-scholarship-fund-powered-by-planned-gift","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/?p=3786","title":{"rendered":"Morefield scholarship fund powered by planned gift"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eclipses reconnect donors to campus, region<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\"\"
Kevin and Denise Morefield watch the solar eclipse in Australia in 2023.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Jeff Wilson<\/strong><\/p>\n

Between the two total solar eclipses that crossed over the Southern Illinois University campus, Kevin and Denise Morefield made an astronomical impact of their own \u2013 a generous planned gift to establish the Morefield Opportunities Scholarship Endowment Fund.<\/p>\n

Established in 2021, the scholarship fund benefits Murphysboro graduates in need of a financial boost.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur scholarship is about helping others have the same opportunity I had,\u201d Kevin said. \u201cMy choice to attend SIU changed my life profoundly, so we decided to pay that forward to others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Morefield\u2019s planned gift is a bequest, which means they have indicated the amount they will direct to SIU through their estate plan. They also decided to partially fund the scholarship while they\u2019re both still living.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlanned giving is a worry-free and easy way to give back. The endowment will keep giving in perpetuity with funds that, by definition, we didn\u2019t need,\u201d Kevin said. \u201cAfter making the decision to contribute, I found myself thinking often about the lives the scholarship would affect. That led us to start early and partially fund the scholarship so we could see some of the impact in our lifetime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kevin, a graduate of Murphysboro High School, received his bachelor\u2019s degree from SIU in cinema and photography in 1985. That passion for photography has led him around the globe chasing eclipses. As fate would have it, that trek has brought him back to SIU twice, once in 2017 and again in 2024.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Kevin Morefield: Capturing the first and second diamond ring during the total solar eclipse across Southern Illinois on Monday, April 8, 2024.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThis was my eighth total solar eclipse. I have witnessed them in the outback of Australia, the polar Arctic, an atoll in the South Pacific, the Atacama Desert in Chile, and in Antarctica,\u201d he said. \u201cFor there to be two\u00a0over my hometown and alma mater is mindboggling and truly unique.\u201d<\/p>\n

After witnessing the grandeur of solar eclipses worldwide, the opportunity to be part of two so close to home was particularly powerful.<\/p>\n

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Kevin and Denise Morefield are pictured with Kevin’s mother, Betty Morefield (left), celebrating the 2024 eclipse at PK’s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe way SIU embraced these events is heartwarming. Eclipses always bring together a diverse group of people all with a common goal. That kind of broad feeling of community is rare and should be treasured,\u201d Kevin said. \u201cIf someone had told me back in 1984 that 40 years later, I would be having a beer at PKs while everyone talked about total solar eclipses, I would not have believed it!\u201d<\/p>\n

To learn more about making a planned gift, visit siufgiving.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eclipses reconnect donors to campus, region By Jeff Wilson Between the two total solar eclipses that crossed over the Southern Illinois University campus, Kevin and Denise Morefield made an astronomical impact of their own \u2013 a generous planned gift to establish the Morefield Opportunities Scholarship Endowment Fund. Established in 2021, the scholarship fund benefits Murphysboro … Continue reading Morefield scholarship fund powered by planned gift<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,3,4,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donor-stories","category-higher-education","category-illinois-higher-education","category-siu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3786"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3799,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3786\/revisions\/3799"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.siuf.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}