A relative newcomer to the Flagler College community, Babcock was inspired to help support the college after meeting and working with a number of Flagler students employed in the restaurants.

“I have been so impressed with the quality of the students who have become my friends and colleagues,” Babcock said. “They immediately caught my attention, and I started to think about how I could get involved with the college that’s helping to shape them.”

Babcock, a native of New York City, grew up in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, not far from Cleveland, and attended Ohio University. An expansive logistics career took him all over the country, including back to his native New York where he continued to grow his logistics expertise. He established his own distribution company and ultimately transitioned into industrial real estate development.

After a 1979 business transaction brought him south to Jacksonville, Babcock was taken with Northeast Florida and soon made plans to relocate to the area. He and his wife now live in Ponte Vedra’s Marsh Landing.

“I love what this area was back then, and I love what it is today,” he said. But after recently selling his logistics business to his employees and retiring from the industry, Babcock was ready for new initiatives, and his attention turned south to St. Augustine.

“I spend more and more of my time in St. Augustine these days,” he said. “I still love Jacksonville, but as my career has evolved and I have more time to look at new projects, St. Augustine is very appealing to me.”

Today, Babcock works with a few Flagler College students at Opus 39 and The Tasting Room. He says the restaurants offer good employment opportunities for students looking for upscale, local dining establishments where they can work while completing their degrees.

It didn’t take long before Babcock began noticing a trend in the students working in his restaurants: they were positive, smart, polished, professional and industrious, qualities Babcock values as an investor and an entrepreneur.

He connected the dots and quickly credited Flagler College with recruiting and retaining such a high level of student. Then, Babcock began looking into the history of the college and talking with Flagler representatives about getting involved. The plans for his gift fell into place quickly, and it wasn’t long before Babcock felt confident with his pledge of $250,000 in unrestricted funds.

“I like to see resources go to scholarship funds,” he said, “but I feel a great sense of trust with Flagler College, and I know they will use the funds toward whatever need is greatest. It’s up to the college; I’m happy to categorize my support as unrestricted giving.”

Babcock says however his gift is used, he’s convinced of one thing: it will be money well spent in transforming the lives of many, many young people at Flagler College.

“Getting to know the Flagler students I’ve had the pleasure to work with has made me less cynical about tomorrow,” he said. “These are hard-working students, people who have to work to support their educations. I see, in Flagler’s students, how good things are going to be in our future. And I’m proud to support their college in any small way I can.”

The boosters club was created in 2004 while Flagler athletic teams were still qualifying for NAIA Tournaments and the NCAA was but a murmur going around the administration.

“The expenditure of teams would go up with the move to Division II, and that was a reason why we started talking about the boosters club,” said club President Alan Bratic, ‘97. “It wasn’t the main reason, but it was kind of like, ‘Hey, we are going to being moving within a year or two, and we want to have this availability for the athletic programs to be able to raise money.’ ”

Bratic, who attended Flagler as a scholarship soccer player, took over as booster club president in 2005. He said the thought from the outset was to have the booster club going strong by the time a decision came on Division II.

“The main thing that we are proud of is working with the coaches and helping them fundraise,” Bratic said. “Really raising the money and the ability to go out into the community and get corporate sponsors, that has made a big difference versus previously. In turn, we use that money to help the sports get what they need.”

Corporate sponsorships have been crucial to the fundraising of the boosters. Previously, Flagler Athletics had minimal funding coming from area businesses.

“We’ve made great progress,” Assistant Athletic Director and Women’s Basketball Coach Sherri Abbey Nowatzki said. “We’ve got 15-20 corporate sponsorships. That’s huge because those are more of your major donors that are giving to athletics, and that goes directly into the overall athletic budget.”

Nowatzki believes that corporate sponsorship has great potential to help Flagler Athletics.

“We’re just skimming the surface,” she said. “Corporate sponsors, in my opinion, that’s going to be the wave of the future to tap into. Those are going to help with facilities as well: new bleachers, new major facilities that we need as we go Division II and into the Peach Belt Conference.”

The booster club has set up a variety of ways that students, parents, faculty, staff, alumni and members of the community can help.

Joining the boosters is one way. The rates are minimal for students faculty and staff, and in 2009, the rate for alumni will drop from $75 to $50, making the commitment more affordable for those that want to help support their Saints.

“Especially for younger alumni, its not easy to put down $200 or even $75, so $50 just felt like it was a good level to get some more alumni involved in it,” Bratic said.

A booster club golf outing was also established this year. The first incarnation over freshmen weekend raised nearly $5,000. The boosters also hold Red Zone functions at Flagler home athletic events at least once per team per season. A silent auction is also planned once the economy turns around.

“The goal would be to get where we can provide $100,000 and above in annual support to athletics,” Bratic said. “The good thing about the booster club is that a lot of people are excited about it, but the tough side is we need more volunteers.”

Bratic believes alumni are crucial to the club’s success.

“Good alumni giving helps the college succeed,” he said. “It’s absolutely imperative for that to happen. Most of the alumni have been to a game or two at Flagler. I wouldn’t say all, but most. With us going Division II, their support is absolutely necessary.”

On July 16, 1944, 25-year-old Edward “Cos” Cosgrove wasn’t sure he’d make it to 26. The Air Force lieutenant, a bombardier with the 825th Bomb Squadron, had just completed his 34th aerial combat mission, with one more to go. The target was the Tarascon railroad bridge in southern France. The reward — if he could make it — would be a year of non-combat service and an honorable discharge, with all the promise of a full life and career ahead.

He made it.

And that’s a good thing for present and future Flagler College English and business students, not to mention the hundreds of admiring friends, family and colleagues Cosgrove left behind when he died last May at the age of 88. The long-time St. Augustine resident and business leader bequeathed more than $1.1 million to the college for use as scholarships. And though the heft of the gift is striking, it comes as no great surprise to those who knew and loved “Cos,” a man of generous spirit and long-term vision.

Edward John (Kosikowski) Cosgrove was born in Connecticut in 1918. Following his distinguished military career as a bombardier, he came to St. Augustine, where he met his wife, Margery Renton, a high-energy professional who served for a time as a personal secretary to author Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings. He served as bank president and chairman of Barnett Bank of St. Augustine, and he also became a very active and generous supporter of Flagler College since its inception in 1968.

“Ed was well-respected as a fine banker who served as president of Barnett Bank in St. Augustine for many years,” said Allen Lastinger, former president and chief operating officer of Barnett Bank Jacksonville. “He and his wife, Margery, were world travelers, and they were very cosmopolitan.”

The Margery Renton and Edward J. Cosgrove Endowed Scholarship awards will be made to Flagler College juniors or seniors from St. Johns County, Fla., majoring in business administration or English. Shrewd businessman to the end, Cosgrove was careful to protect the gift’s potential by stipulating that no funds be drawn against it for the first five years in order to ensure the endowment’s continued growth.

Dashing, fun-loving and adventurous, with a sophisticated outlook born of extensive world travel, the Cosgroves were the toast of St. Augustine for many years. Following Margery’s death in 1989, Edward retreated from public life and spent his final years quietly supporting the college and the organizations in which he believed.

His final bequest to Flagler College — one which will help shape the futures of academically-minded students for many years to come — is a testament to the high-flying success of a brave, adventurous and heroic local leader.

As the latest addition to Flagler College’s Board of Trustees, Delores Lastinger is bringing a passion for education and a unique background in philanthropy to her new role.

Lastinger chairs development for Flagler now, but she spent her first years out of college teaching high school in Jacksonville. With the arrival of her children, she moved on to high-profile volunteer work, serving on a variety of boards throughout Northeast Florida and leading philanthropic projects with her husband, Allen.

The Lastinger Center for Learning at the University of Florida is among their biggest contributions. The couple created an endowment to found the facility for their alma mater, and the center has been developing skilled teachers and improving student progress throughout Florida ever since.

Now the couple has relocated from Jacksonville to St. Augustine – and Delores is helping Flagler gather the donations it needs to keep improving in the future. In addition, she and her husband have personally given the college $500,000 to help preserve Flagler’s historic buildings.

“Allen and I always thought the Ponce de Leon Hotel was such a treasure and so beautiful,” Lastinger said. “And now the years have gone by, and here we are helping to raise money for it … It’s such an important facility for St. Augustine, isn’t it? You drive by and see those spires rising up.”

Lastinger said she got involved with Flagler because of her friend and former Chairman of the Board Fred M. Cone Jr., who recently passed away.

“I miss him so much,” she said. “That is a big void. Because of him, it makes me want to work even harder – to carry out the faith he had in me.”

In addition to preserving the historic campus buildings, Lastinger’s development goals include improvements to the college’s student living and teaching facilities, capital projects and scholarships.

“It’s very important, especially for Flagler College, where so many of the students receive some sort of financial aid,” Lastinger said.

College President William T. Abare Jr. called Lastinger a “wonderful addition” to the board.

“She has a passion for education and a keen interest in higher education, especially in programs dealing with the preparation of teachers,” he said. “She is a thoughtful, forward-thinking person.”

John Stewart, Flagler’s vice president of institutional advancement, said Lastinger brings “vigor and vision” to her role. “The advancement office has already been energized by her ideas and leadership,” he added.

Lastinger said she’s excited about her work for Flagler. She sees evidence of the college’s progress everywhere.

“It is extremely gratifying to see,” she said. “I go in the [new Ringhaver] Student Center and I wonder, ‘How in the world did we ever operate here without that?”