Please help us support Midshipman activities.
Below is Class Gift update from Scott O’Connor, followed by his previous letters to our class. Thanks to all who’ve helped!

Scott O’Connor when his son was at KP
Class Gift Recap as of November 10, 2013
Fellow KP Classmates,
Thank you, thank you to all for participating in our 30th Class Reunion Gift Campaign!!!
This is an update on the campaign since it is not over until the last day of this year. You are certainly invited to send any further donations to the AAF as you do your end-of-the -year tax planning. Also, those who have committed to a monthly donation will have their donations also counted in the final total.
The 10/25/13 Giving Report for our class shows $74,330 in gifting. Of that total amount $27,610 rolled in during the last 6 weeks prior to Homecoming Weekend. Almost unequivocally, the great venues for our class, the tailgating and the great weather helped with donations that weekend.
Participation: 72 persons, or 32% of the class, making a total of 141 separate gifts. The overall participation for gift giving to KP is about 19% in any given year so this participation for our class was “pretty good.” (The average of the top 10 participation rates by alumni of U.S. universities is 51%, with Princeton at 62%).
By $/person gifts:
$5000 – – – – – 4 class members
$2000-5000 – 7
$1000-1999 – 11
$500-999 – – 12
$1-499 – – – 32
This represents a typical “pyramid of giving.” Members of our class are at the tail end of the baby boom generation. That’s the group that are coming to be the largest philanthropic group with the most largesse. I hope that when we get to the 35th the top of the pyramid will be heavier.
By Activity: Highlights with no pledges included.
Gridiron Club – $8825
Waterfront – $4600
Soccer $1700
Wrestling $1100
B&G Golf Outings 1010
Swimming $1000
Baseball $1000
LaCrosse $ 975
Other $3250
Unrestricted (cash is king and it’s put where it has the most benefit to M/N’s) $44,650.
We set out for $83,000 and have gotten within 10% of that which is not bad. There are a number of folks who take care of their charitable giving at the end of the year. We should get close to our goal.
Best regards,
Scott
(ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR RAY’S DEDICATION TO THIS PROJECT).
ACTA NON VERBA
Late Breaking News!! Where the Money Goes…One Example
August 20, 2013
The USMMAAA&F Board voted unanimously to assist and fund the revival of the USMMA Waterpolo Club. This athletic activity had been lying fallow for the past several years. With strong renewed interest on the part of a very proactive group of M/N’s and alumni support this program will once again be an exciting and competitive collegiate activity. The M/N’s proposed and presented a 5-year plan and budget under the guidance of Chris Rentner ’05 that, through part of your generous unrestricted donations (you may restrict your donations to your favorite activity), will again be one of the great alternative sports at USMMA!
Thank you for supporting each and every KP athletic, academic, band, club and social activities at Kings Point. Please consider a generous donation to support the Regiment of Midshipmen just as many, many alumni supported our activities 30 -34 years ago. Our class gift currently stands just at $37,000 with an additional $2500 non-deductible sponsorship donations for our 30th Homecoming Class Activities. If you cannot make a donation at this time, please make a pledge to donate using the same form. Those future donations will be counted toward our total class gift! Your support goes above and beyond what the Federal government is able to do and makes for our Margin of Excellence!!
Class Gift Letter
Dear ’83 Classmate,
Greetings!! You know this year marks the 30th anniversary of our Commencement at Kings Point. Brian Foy, Ray Christiansen, Lisa Fields, Chris Thayer and I are putting together a great package for homecoming activities. Brian will be working diligently with arrangements for our class to reunite over the Homecoming weekend. Lisa Fields is helping with planning and souvenirs and Ray Christiansen is handling our communications and website design. Chris Thayer is adding value as Homecoming Chair Emeritus with his vast party planning expertise. I am taking up the gift giving side of our Homecoming with the help of 15 of our classmates, listed at the end of this message. Information for our class reunion is at http://www.kp83.org.
It’s time to go through your yearbook. It’s also time to find out what many others have been up to. Over the last five years we all have marked milestones of one kind or another, blessed in the fullness of life, living through some of the toughest years in the U.S. We have all chosen paths that have put challenges in front of us, going off in a wide range of jobs, activities and paths of development. After 30 years the collective milestones and accomplishments are impressive. Would it be such if we had all gone to college elsewhere? I doubt it. We certainly would not have some of the friends we do. . We have lost three of class members since 2008: Michael Alston, Dennis Gault and Vivan Ragusa. May they have their eternal peace.
Although our education was fully funded by the government we were also supported in many ways by alumni that had gone before us, many of which have passed on or can no longer afford to offer that kind of support. As when we were there, Kings Point is still being tasked with delivering a highly and technologically trained graduate that can meet the changing nature of the maritime industry. At Kings Point budget stresses continue as the Academy tries to funnel more dollars into the requisite technology and training to meet the demands of the industry. The financial funding provided by the Federal Government is not enough. Beyond that, midshipmen continue to need Alumni support. Virtually all co-curricular activities exist through the generosity of our alumni, parents and friends. The Academy depends on private support include for classroom and lab modernization,
Athletics, Regimental Band, Waterfront Facilities, Leadership Development and many special events, just to name a few.
The Foundation continues to fund its Career Services for midshipmen and alumni, Midshipman Internship Assistance, Midshipman/Alumni functions, Homecoming, the Kings Pointer, and more. Athletics are coming to be especially vulnerable to MARAD’s changing funding policies. Much of the added value, what has been termed a “margin of excellence,” comes from gifts, including yours, through the USMMA Alumni Association and Foundation, a 501(3)(c) not-for-profit corporation.
Our classmates listed below have graciously agreed to help with the project of raising donations for our Class Gift to the Alumni Association and Foundation. This year is one of the big 5-year humps in the continuing level of Class of ’83 support. You should expect to hear further from one of us. We’re calling foremost to get an update on you and secondly to ask for your pledge in raising our 30th Homecoming Reunion Class Gift. We have one simple goal for the gift giving: 100% participation of our class, whether it’s $30 or $30,000. Although $83,000 is a targeted amount, I think we can far exceed that. Last year’s 30th Reunion Class ended the year gifting $118,977. If each member of our class donates $10 for each year since 1983 we can meet our goal. We already have one challenge donor who will match the first $20,000 in donations in 2013 from the class.
If you haven’t sent a dollar or pledged anything to the Foundation in the past, consider doing so this year for our 30th graduation anniversary and homecoming. If the Academy and the midshipmen have been recipients of your generosity in the past consider making a pledge and donation again. All your pledges and donations will be totaled and presented during Homecoming 2013. The total will include all donations made from December 1, 2012 through December 31, 2013 (13 months). It will include any restricted or unrestricted donations that you make. Unrestricted ones allow the Foundation to use and manage those funds where they are most needed by the Academy and restricted funds go to any particular purpose that you may designate.
Your donations may be eligible for matching funds where you work so please pursue that match if you can. We hope you take some time for reflection and give generously. We will keep you posted of our progress with this endeavor on our class website that Ray has created, www.kp83.org. It will be the “go to” site for our class Homecoming info. You can leave your notes at our class Facebook page class Facebook page.
We look forward to getting in touch, either again or for the first time since graduation. Either way, that’s great! I’m taking the time off for our 30th Reunion and I look forward to seeing many, many of you! Thank you for your support of our alma mater once again.
Sincerely,
Scott W. O’Connor ‘83
H 904-251-3097
C 904-545-3179
Chris Cioni, Rich Colonna, Bruce Garrott, Jim Goulden, Young Heinbockel
Randy Johnson, John Kimmerlein, Bumper Kunkle, Bob Lento, Del Lewis
John Rhatigan, Bob Ross, Bill Sliker, Chris Thayer, George Toma