California State University, San Marcos

Contribution Highlights

• California State University San Marcos is a thriving young campus with 26,000 alumni and 10,000 students. Each year more than 1,000 merit and need-based scholarships are awarded to CSUSM students. Through philanthropic support CSUSM is able to offer students life-changing educational experiences, deliver innovative programs and grow and nurture an outstanding athletics program.
• Planned Giving Leaves a Legacy—After taking a tour of CSUSM's state-of-the-art nursing school, Mary Lesko a former WWII army nurse, established a planned gift, creating the Lesko Family Endowment. Through her generous gift of $365,000, Mary is helping ensure the next generation of nurses reaches their educational goals.
• Teaming up for a Homerun—A record breaking crowd of 800 cheered on the CSUSM baseball team in January as the players opened their first-ever home game on the University's new baseball field. The transformation of a field into a collegiate baseball park was made possible through the generous support of private donors, many of whom are parents of players.
• Changing Communities through Film—Filmmaker and Professor Kristine Diekman fuses video production and civic engagement to produce socially responsible media. In 2010, through support of the Leichtag Family Foundation she created A Way Out, a film that gives gang-affiliated youth the information and motivation to get out of a gang. Also funded by the Leichtag Family Foundation in partnership with Mano a Mano Foundation, her latest project, Let's Talk, focuses on teen pregnancy prevention.

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