Greetings, colleagues, from The First State!

As we begin another academic year, the Delaware members of DE-DC-MD ASFAA are hard at work in their “day jobs” and have already begun our community service project.

Again this year, DE ASFAA members are collecting school supplies for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Delaware. Cristine Layton, Wilmington College, and Beth Parker, ECMC, spent some time this past summer working with Club representatives to determine how best we can help all of their students throughout the year in addition to the collection of school supplies. An update on our community service project will be provided in the next issue of News & Views.

Scheduling has begun for the 2007-08 financial aid night programs. Volunteer presenters are needed, so please consider sharing your wit and wisdom at a site near you. Students and parents need our help!

We are in the early planning stages of College Goal Sunday 2008, scheduled for February 10. The snow date will be February 17. Based on attendance for 2007, we will need many more volunteers to help students and parents fill out their 2008-09 FAFSAs. PLEASE JOIN US—the families really appreciate our help, and you’ll feel good knowing you’ve helped them!

Our annual Fall Conference in November will be here before we know it, so please plan to attend and “Ride the Waves of Change” with your colleagues. There is so much going on in our financial aid world – watch for Tristate listserv updates and check our website for all the information you need to get to Cambridge. The Conference Committee has a fabulous training agenda planned, and you’ll have time to catch up with old friends and perhaps even make some new ones.

My term as Delaware President expires in June 2008, so we must look within and nominate self or others to be on the ballot. Please consider leading our group and representing our state in our financial aid associations. Our future is at stake – please, please consider volunteering and to ensure DE-DC-MD ASFAA travels along a strong and vibrant road for years to come.

Comments, suggestions, and ideas are always welcome. Please share with me at clodge@aessuccess.org or 302-577-5253.

All the best for 2007-2008!

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Maryland Moments
Submitted by:  Stephanie Bender, MD President

Greetings from the MD Committee:

The 2007-2008 Maryland Committee started off the year with a Volunteer Event at the Maryland Food Bank on Saturday, July 14. We packed 480 boxes of "emergency" food for the Department of Social Services. Each box weighed 14 pounds and had to have the exact same items, in the exact same order. The MD Committee also donated 35 pounds of non-perishable items that we had collected at the Bowie Baysox Spring Networking event.

Thank you to the following Tristate members for participating:

Always smiling, Pat Shoemaker works hard.	Where to begin???
Volunteers smile for the camera.

The Fall Festival Networking Event was, once again, a bowling event. TriState members enjoyed an evening of bowling on Friday, September 28 at Bowl America in Glen Burnie.

The High School Guidance Counselor Workshops will take place December 5 and 7. We are confirming locations for these workshops. We will also be hosting a webcast for those counselors who are unable to attend.

Other events slated for 2007-2008 include You Can Afford College, Bill 2 Law Day, a Spring Networking Event, and a Spring Volunteer Event.

Make sure to watch the listserv for event information.