Hello, AAP champions! 

Your generous gift to the Academic Advancement Program last year has come a long way for our students. Since our campaign wrapped in December 2022, your support has supplied our dedicated students with essential needs ranging from crucial peer learning, counseling services, and lab technology for engaged learning. Beyond the resources we provided, we also were able to award $835,055 in scholarships to 210 AAP students - as a direct result of the funds you helped raise! Your support has helped students thrive at UCLA and has helped foster growth in our underrepresented communities.

Another AAP campaign is underway, and we need your help again in supplying crucial needs. Your new gift can help us provide necessities such as food, transportation, and scholarships to our hard-working students so they can excel on their path to graduation. Please visit our new campaign site to learn more about the changes you've made and can make for our student community. https://spark.ucla.edu/AAP2023. We're also happy to share with you alumna Mariah's story so you can see the direct changes you make in a student's future. 

Please share our new site with your friends and family and help us spread the word about AAP. Thank you for your generosity last year, and we'd be incredibly grateful to have your support again.

Thank you!

Go Bruins!

With support from 257 donors, we raised $38,249 to fund crucial peer-learning and counseling services, labs with technology for engaged learning and vital resources that support students' basic needs. We also unlocked a $13,000 challenge gift to support scholarships for our AAP students.

Although we did not reach our milestone, every single gift is going to make an impact for AAP and we can't wait to see what we can accomplish together next year. We couldn't be more thankful for your generosity and our students would like to express their gratitude as well. 

"Your generosity doesn't go unnoticed and [your donation] will be used to support and uplift so many students here at UCLA." - Nene U. 

"Your contribution is immensely appreciated. As a minority student from a low-income background, your gift greatly supports mine and other students' pursuit of higher education. AAP has significantly impacted my transition to UCLA and I attribute my success to them." - Lauren H. 

"I would like to express my gratitude towards the donors of the 2022 Spark campaign. I appreciate all you have done for AAP and thank you for making this place feel like a second home." - Araceli C. 

Last week, we had a wonderful time at the first-ever AAP Alumni Network mixer. Gathering with so many AAP alumni in different industries and stages of their lives, reminded us of the power of a community that extends outside of UCLA. These alumni took the lead in helping us unlock a special matching challenge to cover a scholarship for a deserving AAP student. 

Thanks to them, we're excited to announce this matching challenge to help us reach our historic goal of 500 giving participants. 

Gifts of ANY size made today before midnight, December 20, will be matched by $100 to support a scholarship. So if you haven't already, please share spark.ucla.edu/AAP2022. 

Let's keep this momentum going until we reach the end of the campaign. Thank you!

Last week, volunteers from the AAP Alumni Network, Metro LA Chancellor's Society and San Gabriel Valley Chancellor's Society all came together with our own director of AAP, Dr. Charles Alexander, to participate in a successful call night. Thanks to their dedication to raising support for our AAP students, we made over 130 calls to the AAP community and have continued our participation momentum.

To give everyone an opportunity to join in giving, we've extended through next Tuesday, December 20th! This gives us an extra week to keep working to our historic goal of 500 giving participants. That makes now the perfect time to reach out to your network and spread the word about our campaign, just like our call night volunteers. Make sure to share: spark.ucla.edu/AAP2022. Thank you for all your support! 

What a week! The AAP community is inspiring us to celebrate generosity and come together in support of our students. With 65 gifts made on Giving Tuesday alone, we are now well on our way to reaching the halfway mark to our goal. Thank you!

Your giving has ensured our peer counselors and peer-learning facilitators can expand their work by providing funding for staffing, training and leadership retreats. These roles are filled by AAP students to support AAP students, so your gift has had maximum impact. 

This week, another exciting matching challenge will be announced so now is the perfect time to help us keep the momentum going. Reach out to your friends, family and/or colleagues who would be interested in supporting our students, and make sure to share spark.ucla.edu/AAP2022 to help us reach our goal.