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The Sara Smith Ray Endowment for the Performing Arts
The best Christmas present Sara Ray ever received isn’t something she’ll wear or drive, and it didn’t come from a mall. It was a highly personal gift, customized just for Sara, yet she’ll share it with the entire St. Andrew’s community.
On Christmas morning 2005, Sara unwrapped a present from her husband, Bill. Inside was a framed certificate announcing the creation of the Sara Smith Ray Endowment for the Per-forming Arts.
“I cried,” Sara says. “The whole fam- ily cried. Bill cried. Our children cried, and Katie, our daughter-in-law, who is from Atlanta and never attended St. Andrew’s, cried. It was a family moment like nothing we’ve experienced before.”
Established through a donation from Bill Ray, the endowment will fund enhancements to the St. Andrew’s per-forming arts program and serve as a permanent honor for his wife. Sara has played many roles at St. Andrew’s, from Chairman of the Parents’ Asso-ciation to Trustee to Annual Fund Co-Chairman.
“The school has been so important to our family over the years, and Sara has given so much of her time and talent to St. Andrew’s, that I knew establishing this endowment would be the perfect gift,” Bill Ray says.
“St. Andrew’s has not only changed our children’s lives, but Bill’s and my life,” Sara says. “To have an endowment named in my honor at a place that continues to mean so much to all of us is worth more than any material gift I could ever receive.”