While many Virginia Tech students worry about how they’re going to afford their own tuition bills, two went the extra mile to send a friend back to school this semester.
Tech junors Isaac Nagle and Joshua Ferrier were able to raise $4,200 in four days to help their friend, Patrick Asconi, return to his sophomore year at Bridgewater College.
The three Christiansburg natives and other friends sold shirts, asked for donations and established a Facebook group for Asconi.
On Thursday, Aug. 26, Asconi received news that he was ineligible to attend Bridgewater College unless a $4,200 tuition bill was paid by the following Monday. Asconi’s church was paying for one semester, but Asconi thought the church would be paying for the entire year.
“I was freaking out and didn’t know what to do,” Asconi said.
Asconi contacted Nagle that day.
“I told Patrick to pray and make sure the Lord was calling him to Bridgewater,” Nagle said.
Asconi called Nagle later that night assuring him that Bridgewater was where he was supposed to be, and the two met the next day to brainstorm.
Nagle, Asconi, Ferrier and others began calling friends and family members to ask for donations. They raised $700 in the first day. Most of the money collected was from friends, including Nagle, who sold his television for $100.
“All my friends were awesome and selfless,” Asconi said.
Later that evening, Asconi and his friends attended First Fridays in Christiansburg and asked for donations but only collected $50.
They also decided to sell shirts through Marketing on Main Street in Christiansburg. They spent $200 of the money already raised and purchased 50 shirts, all of which were ready to be sold by the next day.
On Saturday, Asconi, Nagle and friends visited the Tech campus to sell their shirts. They returned with only three shirts.
“That’s the definition of the Hokie Nation,” Nagle said. “When somebody is in need, we take care of them.”
With only a day left to raise the money, the men decided to create a Facebook group called “I Sent ‘Sconi to School.”
Most of the support came from a former professor at Tech, who wished to remain anonymous. One of Nagle’s friends told the former professor about Asconi’s predicament. The former professor called Asconi on Sunday and offered to match whatever the men had collected.
By that point, the men had gathered approximately $2,100, half of what Asconi needed to attend Bridgewater the following Monday. The former professor provided the rest of Asconi’s funding as a loan.
“It’s awesome to be back at school,” Asconi said.
Asconi has applied for student loans and he plans to pay his benefactor back in full once he receives those loans.
Now, Asconi and his friends are using the Facebook group to raise monetary donations and profits from T-shirts to help repay the former professor’s donation.
All donations made through the Facebook group are processed through PayPal for security purposes. Ferrier, who runs his own business, is offering free technical support to people who contribute money, including three months of tech support to anyone donating at least $500. More information about Ferrier’s technical support company is available on his website, FerrierCS.com.
Asconi and his friends are accepting all contributions, but an $11 donation is asked for the T-shirts. They have ordered more shirts and plan to sell them on the Tech campus.
In addition, Nagle said they plan to turn this project into a scholarship program in the near future.
“I’m very proud to say that I’m a Hokie after this,” Nagle said.