Vance-Granville has banner year with fundraising, grants

Vance-Granville Community College has enjoyed its most successful year in fundraising and grants, with more than $2.2 million in contributions and nearly $1.3 million in grant funding.

“We are so grateful to the community we serve for this incredible generosity,” said VGCC President Dr. Stelfanie Williams. “These individuals, organizations and businesses that have given to the college have demonstrated their passion for helping our students achieve success.”

Many of the financial successes realized in the 2014-2015 academic year are the result of strategies identified in the college’s five-year Vanguard Vision master plan, said Dr. Williams.

“As one of the goals of our Vanguard Vision , a strategic plan adopted for 2014-2019, the staff and faculty of Vance-Granville have focused on institutional stewardship,” said Dr. Williams. “We identified the need for showing good stewardship by securing and sustaining our resources. Our employees have responded by securing new and innovative resources as evidenced by the grants and many of the new donations we’ve received.”

Of the $636,845 received by the college’s Endowment Fund in 2014-2015, $465,686 was for new scholarships that have already been fully funded, $100,318 from donors participating in the annual golf tournament, $50,866 in additional gifts to existing funded scholarships, $12,405 to named scholarships not yet fully funded, and $7,570 to future scholarships.

 

Major Gifts

Two major gifts announced during the 2014-2015 academic year came from the estates of a decorated World War II fighter pilot and a long-time continuing education art instructor.

In January, Dr. Williams announced a $1.6 million bequest to the college from the estate of Wilbert Allen “Bill” Edwards . A Vance County native who moved to Granville County, Edwards died in October 2001, and his wife died in August 2013. News of the donation to the college came with the settling of the estate. Edwards’ gift is the second largest in the history of the college.

In May, the announcement followed of $400,000 left to the Endowment Fund by the estate of Lelia Brigham , with additional assets pending. A continuing education instructor since the earliest days of the college, in the fall of 1969, Brigham had an association with Vance-Granville as an instructor longer than anyone else. She died in December 2014. In addition to the funds from her estate, Brigham had been responsible for endowing six Academic Achievement Scholarships since December 2001.

 

Golf Tournament

The college’s popular golf tournament skyrocketed to new levels of financial support in May 2015. With the first-ever corporate presenting sponsor, the 31^st annual Endowment Fund Golf Tournament , presented by Oxford-based Union Bank , generated $100,318 to help fund scholarships for deserving students and to support the mission of the college. The amount was nearly double the previous year’s record of $51,000.

“Our Endowment Fund director, Eddie Ferguson, and endowment specialist, Kay Currin, are commended for their efforts, along with the work of our Endowment Fund Board of Directors,” said Dr. Williams.

“What is most pleasing is the support from such a variety of donors, some of them long-time Vance-Granville contributors and new friends who wanted to help our students. These supporters understand the impact of the college on the success of this region we serve.”

 

Scholarships

Six new scholarships were fully endowed during the 2014-2015 fiscal year:

• A Presidential Scholar Award, the most prestigious scholarship offered to students, was created in memory of Lelia Brigham.
• The Hubert L. Gooch Jr. Memorial Academic Achievement Scholarship , with preference given to students who are residents of Granville County, was created in October 2014 by his family. Gooch, a longtime educator and community leader, died in March 2014. Gooch also served on the VGCC board of trustees.
• The Oxford Lodge, No. 103, Independent Order of Odd Fellows Presidential Scholar Award was established by the local service organization with inspiration in part by longtime club treasurer J. David Brooks of Oxford, who died in February 2015. Brooks was a former trustee at VGCC.
• The Hervé and Jackie Sergent Scholarship , created by the Oxford mayor and her husband, was created to help children attending the VGCC Science Camps each summer.
• The Union Bank & Trust Founding Directors Academic Achievement Award was established in March by the Oxford-based bank to pay tribute to the business and community leaders who founded the bank.
• The Virginia L. Wester Academic Achievement Scholarship was endowed by W. Hutson “Hut” Wester in January 2015 in memory of his wife, who died the previous January. The new Wester scholarship will be given to students who are planning to transfer to a four-year university and pursue a major related to insurance. A continuing education instructor in insurance at VGCC for several years, Wester has endowed two other scholarships.

Four additional scholarships were started:

• The Charles and Audrey Ballentine Academic Achievement Scholarship was established in memory of her parents by Dr. Angela Ballentine, VGCC’s vice president of academic and student affairs. Dr. Ballentine’s parents were both educators in Rockingham County. Preference will be given to students in the VGCC Radiography degree program.
• The Charles L. Brooks Sr. Scholarship keeps alive the memory of a VGCC South Campus custodian/housekeeper from Oxford who died in 2009 following a long battle with leukemia. His friends and co-workers have established the scholarship and are seeking contributions to make it fully funded so that it might soon be awarded to students.
• Sue Wooten Grissom Academic Achievement Scholarship , created by Brigham, is designated for students who came to VGCC for an adult high school diploma or high school equivalency diploma and then enrolled in a curriculum program to earn a certificate, diploma or degree.
• Keith and Stelfanie Williams Family Presidential Merit Award , created by VGCC’s president and her family, was established for an adult high school diploma or high school equivalency diploma graduate who then enrolled in a curriculum program to earn a certificate, diploma or degree.

 

In addition, two previously-established scholarships became fully endowed during the year: the Triangle North Healthcare Foundation Academic Achievement Scholarship , for students pursuing a health-related program of study; and the Robert J. Turner/Henderson Kiwanis Club Academic Achievement Scholarship . PSNC Energy increased the size of its scholarship endowment as well.

Among other fund-raising efforts, an annual campaign is held each fall for Vance-Granville employees. VGCC’s faculty and staff contributed $21,441 to the Endowment Fund in 2014.

 

Grant Funding

In addition to the contributions made to the college from these individuals, companies and organizations, Vance-Granville Community College also benefitted from a second year of significant grant funding in 2014-2015.

The following four grants were largest awarded for the year:

• An Education & Workforce Innovation Grant of $800,000 was awarded by the North Carolina Education and Workforce Innovation Commission to support the Manufacturing Skills Training Alliance. The workforce training partnership involves VGCC and the Career and Technical Education high school programs from Vance County Schools, Granville County Schools, Franklin County Schools and Warren County Schools.
• Duke Energy awarded the college a grant of $237,757 to continue equipping the college’s Advanced Manufacturing Skills Center with state-of-the-art, industrial-grade training equipment.
• An NCWorks Job-Driven Initiative Grant awarded to VGCC in partnership with the Kerr-Tar Workforce Development Board totaled $147,000. VGCC is one of 12 community colleges across the state selected to provide training services to dislocated workers.
• The NCWorks Career Pathways Grant of $70,000 was awarded to VGCC to plan and implement work-based learning opportunities.

Five other smaller grants combined to bring the college $1,292,197 in grant funding for the academic year. Combined with $2,643,722 in 2013-2014, grants for the college over the past year totaled nearly $4 million.

“I applaud our outstanding faculty and staff, who have played leading roles in seeking out these grants and helping to obtain new funding,” said Dr. Williams. “They give of their own resources through our on-campus drive and the golf tournament, but they work hard also to secure these innovative resources.”

“Our mission is to educate, inspire and support a diverse community of learners,” she added. “With the incredible support of a caring community joining us in this effort, we are positioning our students to achieve the professional and personal success they need to attain a greater quality of life.”