Jay and Sharon Mahaffey - Parents

Jay and Sharon Mahaffey’s four sons were born within 31 months of each other. Stephen '15, their oldest, chose Hood College.

But in 2012 Jay had seven surgeries, creating a severe financial hardship. Although all six Mahaffeys were employed, it was now impossible to fund four simultaneous undergraduate tuitions. After much thought and prayer, Jay and Sharon made the difficult decision to bring the boys home. Almost simultaneously, Hood College called and told them that Stephen had received a one-year Naomi Parker Ballard ’49 Scholarship for a student facing an unexpected financial need.

“We were in tears. Our four boys could remain in college. What a blessing from the Ballard family and Hood College! Mr. Ballard shared with us that someone had helped Naomi with her tuition. Naomi’s family helped Stephen. With our planned gift, we want to continue this Hood College legacy,” the Mahaffeys share. “Hood has a heart for higher education and for life.”

In the spirit of paying it forward, the Mahaffeys created a planned gift for Hood. They designated a percentage of their estate to offer a scholarship to a future student in financial need.

We invite you to consider how you could “pay it forward” by including Hood College in your long-range financial plans. You can be any age, make a gift of any size, and direct your gift to any purpose knowing that your generosity will make an impact on Hood students in the years to come. It’s easy to do and yet incredibly meaningful and important to the future of Hood.

To learn more about making an impact through a planned gift, please contact Malinda (Lindy) Small ’81 at (301) 696-3977 or small@hood.edu.