Why a registration fee for the retreat?

 

We know that the registration fee for the Alumni Retreat is a departure from our normal practice of offering CrossRoad and other related programs free of charge. Through our sustainability grant from the Lilly Endowment, as well as gifts from generous donors (including alumni and families), scholarships are provided for CrossRoad participants each summer. (For more information on how CrossRoad and the OVM are funded, read about the grant on our website.)

We are excited to offer the annual Alumni Retreat, a program that was not anticipated in our original grant funding.  The vision for this retreat was initially articulated by one of your own fellow alums who wanted to extend the Orthodox education, vocational exploration, and fellowship you began in CrossRoad into your college and young adult years.

The Alumni Retreat currently costs us approximately $300 per participant, which reflects our fixed costs with vendors for housing arrangements, transportation, meals, and retreat space. Thus, we are charging a registration fee of $30 to (a) help defray these costs so that we are able to continue to offer these enriching events for you,(b) demonstrate to major donors that YOU all are committed to your ongoing learning enough that you contribute to the cost itself (believe it or not, donors really do look for this), and (c) register those of you who can really commit to come (it is costly for us to have people back out within the last week or two). 

However, we do not want the fee to prevent any of you from being able to attend the retreat. Scholarships are available; please email or call, and we will work it out.

We look forward to seeing you soon!

 

Love in Christ,

Mary Long & the CrossRoad Team