**Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the FOA Fellowship Challenge has been suspended for the foreseeable future. Thank you to all the donors who have contributed thus far. We invite you to click here to read the letter from ASOR’s President about responses to this developing situation.**

FRIENDS OF ASOR FELLOWSHIP CHALLENGE 2020

ASOR needs the help of Friends of ASOR giving $10 or more each to earn a matching gift of $1,000.

Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous Friend of ASOR and donor, ASOR has received a pledge for a challenge matching gift of $1,000 to award to one student (for a total of $2,000) to excavate in the Near East this summer. We need Friends of ASOR to contribute gifts of $10, $25, $50, or $100 each to raise $1,000 to match the gift from the anonymous donor. As an extra incentive, the first 100 Friends who give $10 or more will be automatically entered into a drawing to win a complimentary Associate Membership. This 2020 membership includes print delivery and online access to all four issues of our most popular journal, Near Eastern Archaeology, as well as all the other benefits of membership at ASOR!

In 2017, the Friends of ASOR were able to raise enough funds to help Cecelia Chisdock participate in the excavation of the important Bronze Age Canaanite site of Tel Kabri in northern Israel. Here are some questions she answered about her experience. Cecelia’s journey clearly left a lasting impression because she is now enrolled in a graduate bioarchaeology program at the University of Notre Dame. ASOR caught up with Cecelia recently and she reflected on her past excavation experience saying,

“During the 2017 Tel Kabri excavation I not only gained archaeological training, I was also introduced to the entire world and many possibilities of Near Eastern archaeology. The field school introduced me to ways scientific techniques can be applied to archaeology and trips to other sites in Israel led me to an interest in the site of Megiddo. Both directed me towards the study of biological stress markers on teeth from Megiddo as part of my undergraduate thesis. This excavation and the research that was spurred by it then aided in my transition to Notre Dame’s Anthropology PhD program, where I am focusing in Near Eastern bioarchaeology. Without the support of the Friends of ASOR Fellowship I wouldn’t have been able to participate in any excavation, let alone one which opened so many avenues for research and my future.”

We are asking the Friends of ASOR to partner with us to give another student the opportunity to have a transformative experience like Cecelia’s three years ago. Please refer back often to this page as we will be tracking the progress of our drive here throughout the month. If 100 people give just $10, that is $1,000. Help us earn that challenge matching gift in just four weeks. We are counting on you.

We thank you for all the support you have given ASOR for however long you have been Friend, whether that is a month or years. As an organization, we are truly fortunate to have “friends” like you.

Please use the drop down menu on the “Designate my gift to” question to select “Friends of ASOR” as your gift designation. We have a month to reach our goal, so please make a gift today!

Your donations enable ASOR to carry out our mission at a higher level and with greater impact. Even modest gifts add up to create significant support for ASOR, and the high level of donor participation from our members and friends help us attract gifts from foundations and major donors. Truly, every donor is important, and every gift is meaningful.