Where a gift gives forever

It was said that Chris Donalty danced through life.

In fact, he not only danced, he sang.  He laughed.  He inspired.  He achieved. He loved. And in just over 21 years he touched the world more deeply than many do in much longer lifetimes.

Christopher Harding Donalty was born on October 27, 1980 in Utica, the son of Barry and Jeanne Donalty.  In June, 1998 he graduated from Thomas R. Proctor High School, where he ranked in the top 10 of his class, starred in varsity baseball and relished the school’s cultural diversity.

In the fall of 1998 Chris entered Stetson University on an academic scholarship. He continued to play baseball, became a loyal member of Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and was to have graduated in May 2002 with a degree in business administration.  Eleven weeks short of graduation, he died of Sudden Unexplained Death from Epilepsy (SUDEP), a disease he endured bravely and openly throughout his life.

Shortly after his death, Chris’s family acted to honor his memory by establishing the Christopher Harding Donalty Scholarship Fund at The Community Foundation. “we wanted to do something meaningful that would help other kids become remarkable, like Chris was and would have been,” explained his parents. “We wanted it to be an honor—and we wanted someone just like Chris to qualify for it.”

Therefore, the scholarship is awarded to a graduating Proctor Senior who ranks in the top 20 of the class, embodies outstanding leadership traits, played varsity baseball as a senior and had enrolled in a four-year college.

The scholarship is awarded annually to one or more graduates who meet the criteria.  If there are no qualifiers, it rolls over to the next year.  If more than one student meets the criteria, the award is divided equally among them.

The Donaltys point out that they chose The Community Foundation because of its “tremendous reputation and because it has the mechanisms in place to monitor and grow the fund – and carry it on for time immemorial.”

The fund’s extraordinary immediate growth, from a record number of donors who saw it as a fitting way to express their love and respect for Chris, made it possible for the first Christopher Harding Donalty Scholarship to be awarded just months after the funds inception.

It was the first of many. Because through the Christopher Harding Donalty Scholarship Fund, the dance will go on forever.