PELLA — Once a year, something remarkable happens across Central College’s alumni network and campus community. Social feeds fill with red and white. “Go Dutch” can be heard across the country. And donations begin rolling in from across the nation and around the world. That day is Hoo-Rah Day – Central’s biggest giving day of the year – and it is more than a fundraiser. It is a celebration of everything that makes Central, Central.
Every dollar raised during Hoo-Rah Day provides financial support to Central students. The Journey Fund reflects the college’s deep commitment to access and opportunity – ensuring that a Central education remains within reach for the next generation of Dutch. With the support of the Central community, every student receives a scholarship each year at Central.
Throughout the day, challengers step forward to amplify the generosity of the broader community. Gifts to Journey Scholarship Fund are matched dollar-for-dollar and participation challenges create momentum – and a little friendly competition – that keeps donors engaged from morning to midnight. This year, as in years past, longtime supporters Dale and Eileen Miller Vander Wilt, Classes of 1969 and 1970, have accepted that role with open arms.
“Central changed our lives, and we’ve watched it change the lives of so many students over the years,” Dale Vander Wilt says. “Hoo-Rah Day gives us a chance to make sure that continues – one scholarship at a time.”
The Vander Wilts say they were blessed. They both became teachers after graduation. Eileen was an elementary teacher and junior high teacher. Dale taught in both junior high and high schools but later left education to go into banking. Their daughters attended Central – Lisa Vander Wilt Shileny, 1998 graduate, and Jodi Vander Wilt Hogan, 2001 graduate, and Tricia Vander Wilt Fleagle, 2005 graduate.
The couple has served as Hoo-Rah Challengers for several consecutive years, a commitment they describe not as an obligation but as a joy. For them, Hoo-Rah Day represents the connective tissue between Central’s past and its future.
“The reasons we give are two-fold,” Eileen Vander Wilt says. “We appreciate the education we received and the education our daughters received. It’s a way to say thank you to Central for what it gave us. Number two is we are strong believers in education. We want to encourage students to go on to college, especially Central. We can help students and we can help Central.”
Beyond the dollars raised, Hoo-Rah Day serves as a 24-hour reunion of Central pride. Alumni share memories on social media – photos from their Dutch days, stories of professors who shaped them and adorable photos with child of alumni in Central gear. The result is a collective chorus that reminds the world what a small college in Pella, Iowa, can do.
This year we are again offering the early donor challenge. When 50 people donate before April 8, a $10,000 gift will be unlocked for the Journey Scholarship Fund.
Challenges are woven throughout the day to reward participation and encourage donors to act quickly. Matching challenges mean that every gift to Journey Scholarship Fund during the day is doubled – a powerful incentive that has historically driven significant surges in donations. Participation challenges reward the sheer number of donors, making every gift count regardless of size.
Central encourages all alumni, faculty, staff, parents, students and friends of the college to participate in Hoo-Rah Day – whether through a gift to the Journey Scholarship Fund, a social media share or simply by raising a little Hoo-Rah of their own.
You can make your gift today at https://hoorah.central.edu/.
