On Friday, Oct. 20 and Saturday, Oct. 21, the Microfinance Group organized a fundraiser outside of Sadove. Beginning in 2014, the fundraiser, a “Guess the Weight” pumpkin challenge, is in support of local entrepreneurs in the Oneida County area.
Sadove Programming sponsored the event and made it a success, with Fallcoming and Family Weekend drawing many participants.
“We received over 230 guesses, raised almost $1,200 and the pumpkin weighed 117.6 pounds.” said Sarah Magee ’18, the President of the Hamilton Microfinance Group. Parent Colleen Betrus won the first place prize, a 32″ Flat Screen TV, student Sophie Cote ’21 won the second place prize, a Hamilton Patagonia sweater, and parent Barbara Buckley won the third place prize, an Opus gift card and Hamilton hat. The group will give the donation money to local entrepreneurs.
The Microfinance Group is a student organization that provides low-interest loans to local businesses, predominantly those who do not qualify for bank loans due to poor or nonexistent credit history.
“We are also interested in businesses with social impact or loan requests which are smaller than what a traditional bank would be willing to make,” said Magee, adding “our clients include the Amish community, who don’t have Social Security numbers and thus have no credit scores, immigrant/refugee populations who haven’t established a credit score yet, as well as other entrepreneurs in the community.”
It is up to the students within the group to find clients and evaluate their business plans in order to determine whether or not to grant the loan, as well as to refer applicants to other organizations, such as the thINCubator in Utica. When the group approves an applicant for the loan, the group partners with the Access Federal Credit Union in Clinton to deal with paperwork processing and service loans.
“We currently have two active loans, one to a woman in Utica who runs a thrift store, and one to an Amish farmer. We regularly visit clients who have loans as part of our organization’s structure.” said Magee of the group’s current clients. The group participants also attend community events related to Microfinance to further expand their knowledge in developing business plans and granting loans.
This annual fundraiser, however, allows the group to interact with the Hamilton community on a wider scale.
“We had current students, trustees, staff members, parents, and alums stopping by, chatting with us, trying to lift the pumpkin, taking photos, and generally having a good time. The motto on our business cards is ‘Small Loans, Big Impact,’ and my goal is that the effects of our work extend beyond providing funding to the few entrepreneurs we can assist. This fundraiser is just one way we can do that,” said Magee.
The group, having seen success each time they hold the fundraiser, hopes to continue making a difference in the business community, and to increase their own knowledge of finance.
