Paying It Forward

Account balance: $80. Staring at their dwindling checking account, Jody and Louise Venkatesan found themselves financially drained, unsure where to turn. "We were broke," says Louise. "Money had always been tight, but now we didn't know if we would be able to cover tuition, rent or food." She met Jody in 1986 at church while he was on active duty with the U.S. Army. Louise moved to Washington, D.C., after graduating from the University. The couple relocated to Searcy in 1993 so that Jody could begin work on his bachelor of business administration degree while Louise pursued her master's in marriage and family therapy. While in school, the Venkatesans sought jobs to pay the bills. According to Vice President of Advancement Mike Williams, Jody's outgoing attitude made it easy for him to find odd jobs around campus. "He was always helping, always working," says Williams. "Jody was constantly looking for opportunities. Everyone knew him."

However, despite their efforts, the couple was still struggling to make ends meet. "At that point it became painfully apparent to me that I was in over my head," says Jody. "I had to ask for help. It was truly a humbling moment in our lives."

The Venkatesans found the relief they needed in the form of the Paul Carter Endowment Fund.

Jody and Louise felt their financial burden lift when they discovered that the next year and a half of their schooling would be taken care of through the endowment. During an American Studies Institute luncheon, Jody met and thanked Carter, then CFO of Wal-Mart Stores Inc., and a member of the University's board of trustees, for the life-changing gift that he had granted them. Carter made one request of the Venkatesans, "All I ask is, someday, do it for someone else if you can."

Since that moment, Jody and Louise have taken Carter's simple statement and made it their motto, striving to help other students the same way. As a result, they established the Jody and Louise Venkatesan Endowment Fund, providing financial aid to students living east of the Mississippi River with a grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

"[Upon starting the fund], we have had so many individual opportunities to help," says Jody, now a member of the President's Council, Builder's Circle and ASI Board. "It has added to the blessing in our lives in so many ways."

Jody and Louise have used the endowment fund to help students from their congregation, Silver Spring (Md.) Church of Christ, who do not qualify for financial aid while, at the same time, unable to afford to attend otherwise. In the event that a student from their church was not going to the University, "God has always put someone there," says Louise.

One summer, a Harding student interning at NASA became involved with the Venkatesans' church. Jody and Louise learned that he was in need of financial assistance and directed the endowment to him. Recently, they took the remaining available funds and gave it to a member of the spring break campaign group who visited their church.

"I called [the Advancement Office], gave them a list of students who had been on the campaign, and asked to give the remainder to the student who needed it most," says Jody. "There's really no rhyme or reason to it; we just want to help. We know the lasting and permanentinvestment being made in the lives of these students."

In addition to helping students through the endowment fund, the Venkatesans also give of their time and home. They heavily recruit potential students in the Washington, D.C., area. On several occasions, they have opened their home to spring break campaigns and summer interns. "We've seen the difference that Harding makes," says Louise. "We want others to have the same opportunity we had."

As their endowment fund recipients begin to graduate - the first student received his diploma in May 2009 - the Venkatesans hope that each will continue to pay it forward, aiding the next generation of students.

"This experience has provided us a network of people who have helped us grow in the grace of giving and to bless others in the same way that we were blessed," says Jody. "We have found giving really does make a difference for somebody, and we continue to challenge ourselves as best we can, knowing God has blessed us for a reason - to serve others like God has blessed us."