HCC Foundation Announces Textbook Scholarship Endowment of $100,000

For years, the Hopkinsville Community College Foundation, Inc. has supported local students with its Textbook Scholarship program. Begun in the 1990s during the tenure of Foundation Board President Don Atwood, the program has just attained an endowment of $100,000.

A group of local supporters recognized the spiraling costs of textbooks, and realized that Hopkinsville students needed help making all the ends meet, not just tuition, said Yvette Eastham, Executive Director of the Foundation. Added current Board President Jo Glover, We are deeply appreciative of the lead gifts provided by Bill and Katherine Flynn, Terry and Carolyn Hamby, Planters Bank, Jennie Stuart Medical Center, Don and Terri Henderson, and United Southern Bank. Other donors to the initial $50,000 gift include William Deatherage, Jr., Pennyrile Electric, Bill Nichol, BBamp;T Bank, Tony and Jackie Jones, Dr. Scott Sutherland and Tim McGinnis.

Two annual fundraising events are sponsored by the Hopkinsville Community College Foundation; its annual Scholarship Gala and the annual Golf Scramble. 2010 will mark the 20th anniversary of the golf event, and plans and a special announcement are underway. We all know that the Pennyrile and Hopkinsville is a generous community. The gifts to the Foundation were matched by the Kentucky Community and Technical College System Endowment Trust, dollar for dollar, so the initial $50,000 grew to $100,000 immediately, stated college president Dr. Jim Selbe. This made the prospect of endowing the existing program impossible to refuse, according to Terry Hamby, who led the campaign to endow the long-standing student assistance program. HCC students will perpetually be able to tap into the resources of the Textbook Scholarship Endowment, thanks to the vision of our Board of Directors and these generous donors, noted Eastham. Textbook scholarship applications are available on line now at the college website, under theGiving tab. We are so grateful to our community for supporting those pursuing higher education, and we trust that support for initiatives to advance education in the Pennyrile will continue to grow, concluded Glover.