YEARS AFTER AL CAREY ’74 graduated from the University of Maryland, what began as a brief campus visit turned into a defining moment of generosity. During a dinner conversation with a university administrator, he learned about a junior who was on the verge of dropping out. This student’s father had been diagnosed with cancer, and the escalating medical expenses had depleted the savings the family relied on to fund her education.
“[I HOPE] THAT THE EDUCATION THEY RECEIVE HERE AT MARYLAND WILL HELP THEM ACHIEVE THEIR DREAMS, AND THAT THEY, IN TURN, GIVE TO MARYLAND TO HELP MAKE THE SAME POSSIBLE FOR OTHERS WHO FOLLOW THEM TO THIS GREAT UNIVERSITY.”
“That story brought tears to our eyes,” Carey recalls. “This father, a blue-collar worker, spent years making sacrifices so his daughter could have a great education, a better life. And now, that was all going to be disrupted because of illness?” Carey and another Maryland alum at that dinner table immediately decided to split the cost of the student’s senior year. Because of their generosity, she graduated on schedule and is now a teacher.
Carey and his fellow alum con-sidered this a small act of kindness. But the student’s family didn’t see it that way. “I was deeply moved by the handwritten letters of gratitude the student and her mother wrote to me,” he says. “To this day, I still look at those letters when I’m having a bad day. They lift my spirits every time. It just shows you that what seems like a small gift to someone could be a crucial lifeline to the beneficiary.”
Thanks to this epiphany, Carey has become an evangelist of sorts, using every chance he gets to urge Maryland alumni to support the university. He’s particularly eager that young alumni get this message. “Many young alumni just beginning their careers might think they don’t have much to give,” he explains. “But that’s no reason to sit on the sidelines. Start small now, and then make bigger gifts when you have more resources. Even the small gifts count.”
Carey practices what he preaches. His recent $1 million commitment to create the Carey Maryland Promise Scholarship is the latest testament to his years of support for the university: as a donor, volunteer, advocate, connec-tor and all-around booster. He retired from PepsiCo as chief executive officer for North America and is now chairman “That story brought tears to our eyes,” Carey recalls. “This father, a blue-collar worker, spent years making sacrifices so his daughter could have a great education, a better life. And now, that was all going to be disrupted because of illness?” Carey and another Maryland alum at that dinner table immediately decided to split the cost of the student’s senior year. Because of their generosity, she graduated on schedule and is now a teacher.
“That story brought tears to our eyes,” Carey recalls. “This father, a blue-collar worker, spent years making sacrifices so his daughter could have a great education, a better life. And now, that was all going to be disrupted because of illness?” Carey and another Maryland alum at that dinner table immediately decided to split the cost of the student’s senior year. Because of their generosity, she graduated on schedule and is now a teacher.