Savvy Donor Supports Student Wellness

San Diego resident Nancy Harris, who graduated from the University of Arizona in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in education, was looking for a way to support her alma mater when she visited campus in February 2024 and met Dr. Aaron Barnes, director of the U of A’s Counseling and Psychological Services, or CAPS. A retired administrator of high-school special education programs including those for students with emotional disabilities, Harris was already aware of the profound impact the availability of mental health services can have on a student’s trajectory both personally and academically, and likewise understood the way those challenges could linger long after graduation.

“When we think about mental health treatment, we think about, ‘Oh, students who need it can go for therapy,’ but there’s so much more going on at CAPS,” Harris says, highlighting initiatives like Together We Care, which helps train faculty and staff to cultivate awareness toward signs of students in crisis. “There’s been so much in the news regarding the effects of COVID and social media — negative effects — upon children, adolescents and young adults, and that’s another issue students have to deal with.” She resolved at the meeting with Dr. Barnes to give to CAPS.

“During my life, I’ve been aware of mental health as being as much of a need as physical health,” she says, “and I made a decision to provide the best gift I could at the time to the CAPS program to support students who have needs in that area.” A portion of that gift came from a qualified charitable distribution (QCD). Through a QCD, donors can give up to $105,000 annually from their IRA to eligible organizations. The contribution also counts toward the donor’s annual Required Minimum Distribution.

“I wanted to make a gift that could make a difference in the lives of students by providing them with the services they need in order to be successful,” Harris says. “Because the challenges of going to college are so great, both financially and emotionally.”