Checking her department’s finances late last week, Mary Krueger knew there would be a little money leftover from the four-year federal grant given for the now defunct Transformation Project.

But the amount she stumbled on still has her reeling–with excitement.

Krueger, direct or of the Women’s Center, was told Thursday by an accounting staff member in the Office of Academic Affairs, that she had $11,600 in grant funding left.

This unexpected discovery is enough to keep victim advocate Rebecca Theis–who has been on the receiving end of an extensive student-run fundraising effort–on campus through at least the end of April along with a part-time coordinator to “tie up loose ends” with the Project, Krueger said. The Center had housed the Project since its creation four years ago.

“I fell on the floor,” Krueger said. “It was so great, it was like Christmas. When she told me that there was that much money, I fell off my chair and then I got up and danced around the room.”

While finishing out the year with leftover grant funding isn’t unusual, amounts so large are, Krueger said. The past two years of grant funding were used exclusively to pay the salaries of the Project’s three employees, she said.

“The fact that it’s so much is kind of unusual,” Krueger said.

It was not clear Wednesday how the amount went unnoticed last semester when fundraising efforts for the advocate position began. BGSU does not pool grant funding, according to Gaylyn Finn, associate vice president of finance.

The news has lightened the load for students spearheading fundraising efforts for Theis, said junior Chelsea Lambdin and founding member of the Victim Advocate Longevity Effort. The group has charged themselves with raising the advocate’s $35,344 salary one month at a time, securing enough on their own to keep the position funded through the end of the month.

But VALE doesn’t want those who donated during their initial pleas for funds to feel cheated, Lambdin said.

“I just want to stress that we don’t want anyone to be mislead by the donations we’ve been collecting,” she said. “Without student and business donations, [keeping the victim advocate] wouldn’t have happened.”

Krueger knows this is true, she said. Even with an extra $11,600 now, Theis would have been long-gone without the surge of student support behind the position. The victim advocate position had been set to end Dec. 31.

“If the students hadn’t shown this dedication and bought us this time … this would have been a moot point,” Krueger said. “They’re my heroes.”

VALE will continue to collect donations, Lambdin said, in an effort to keep the position funded through the end of September when they hope the Women’s Center will be the recipient of another grant to restart the entire Transformation Project.

Upcoming fundraisers include a benefit concert at Howard’s Club H Feb. 27, and a date auction to be held in March. Proceeds from the annual “Vagina Monologues” performances on campus next month will also benefit the victim advocate position, Lambdin said.

Editor’s Note: To donate or to get involved with the fundraising efforts, e-mail Chelsea Lambdin at: [email protected].