MITRE Hosts Phone-a-Thon in Bedford for College-Bound Students

April 2013

MITRE's Sal Pomponi (r), makes plans with Bedford High School Principal Henry Turner for the annual Phone-a-Thon.

MITRE has many longstanding traditions—partnership, public service, and innovation. This spring, MITRE upheld another proud tradition: hosting the annual "Dollars for Scholars" Phone-a-Thon, an event of the Citizens' Scholarship Foundation (CSF) of Bedford, Mass.

"Dollars for Scholars" is a national program sponsored by Scholarship America, the country's largest non-profit, private sector scholarship organization. More than 100 Bedford High School students came to MITRE's campus during the first weekend of March to take turns telephoning households across town, hoping to garner pledges for a scholarship fund to help defray the cost of higher education.

"In the 18 years that MITRE has hosted this event, we've raised over $700,000 in scholarship aid for the Bedford community," says Sal Pomponi, an original MITRE employee who formally retired from the company in 1998. He continues to work at the company as a contract systems engineer and is a CSF volunteer and chair of the Phone-a-Thon effort.

"MITRE makes this success possible by providing security staff to meet the students and their parents, installing 30 phones for the teens to use in a central conference room, and offering use of the audiovisual system, which is very handy for the 15-minute training session that I lead before the phone-a-thon gets started," he says. While the teens work the phones, Bedford adult volunteers, such as MITRE staffers Janet Werth and Ellen Conway, fold and stuff envelopes with pledge cards for mailing.

CSF of Bedford "Dollars for Scholars" is a volunteer community organization that provides scholarships to deserving high school graduates who plan to continue their education. "Seniors from Bedford High School, or any Bedford or Hanscom Air Force Base resident graduating from another secondary school, may apply for this scholarship money if they plan to attend college, or a technical or vocational school," says Pomponi.

Over the years, Pomponi has observed how the scholarship money has helped local high school students succeed in college. "The teens have gone on to attend all of the Boston-area colleges, such as Northeastern University, MIT, and Wentworth Institute of Technology. Graduates have also gone to the Ivy League schools, Big Ten colleges, and the like." In 2006, the Citizens' Scholarship Foundation of Bedford, officially recognized MITRE for its support to the program.

Pomponi and his wife, who have lived in Bedford since 1968, became acquainted with CSF "Dollars for Scholars" when their own three children were recipients of aid; they've run the Phone-a-Thon for 22 years. This year's pledge drive exceeded $37,000. "That's only $600 less than last year, which is remarkable in these challenging economic times," he says. "Money is raised from a variety of sources, but the Phone-a-Thon is the key effort that provides more than 50 percent of the scholarship funds awarded each year."

Pomponi says the program, and MITRE's support, is very much appreciated by the Bedford superintendent of schools, teachers, students, and their parents. "The kids are excited to be here, and it's often hard to get them to leave when their two-hour shift is over."

—by Cheryl Scaparrotta

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