During its annual organizational meeting, the Allan Hancock College Foundation board of directors learned of the college’s success in raising funds over the past three years.
After recent donations from the CoastHills Community Foundation, G. Haas Foundation and PG&E, combined with a $785,000 grant from the Orfalea Foundation, the college is poised to surpass $12 million in new external funding since the summer of 2013.
The funding is the result of collaboration between the foundation and college. It does not include additional funds raised by the PCPA Foundation or the AHC Boosters Club, which are both independent support organizations for the college’s programs.
“These gifts and grants are in addition to the ongoing support that enhances our programs. Our students benefit directly from the generosity of our community,” said superintendent and president Kevin G. Walthers, Ph.D. “The money comes from our neighbors, alumni, community leaders and business partners. Their generosity is helping the college support its mission to provide quality educational opportunities that enhance student learning.”
The Allan Hancock College Foundation has raised more than $4.7 million since the summer of 2013. Just under $2 million was donated for endowments, about $2.6 million went to specific areas of study like agriculture, registered veterinary technician and the Science Technology Engineering Mathematics (S.T.E.M.) program.
Nearly $900,000 has been raised in the 2015-16 fiscal year alone. For the second consecutive year, the college and foundation will provide more than $525,000 in scholarships.
“We created 23 new scholarships just in the last year thanks to the generosity of new donors. We have hundreds more who donate every year,” said Terry Dworaczyk, Ed.D., outgoing foundation board president. “The community continues to give back to the college to allow the foundation to provide more than half a million dollars in scholarships each year. The donors are investing so that our students can continue to pursue education.”
Included in the donations received by the foundation was a $1.4 million anonymous gift to purchase state-of-the-art equipment at the college’s Public Safety Training Complex.
The donation helped fund critical components of the facility’s Emergency Vehicles Operations Course (EVOC), high-speed driving track and fire training simulator.
“The gift was one of the largest in the college’s history and it supports a facility that focuses on building careers in public service. To know that public safety professionals will save lives during their careers makes the gift all the more incredible,” said Walthers.
Local Rotary clubs and businesses, such as Pacific Gas & Electric and Heritage Oaks Bank, helped the college launch its Veterans Emergency Loan Program and Student Emergency Fund, which together have helped nearly 100 students in the last 18 months.
“People know how important Allan Hancock College is to the community, county and California,” said incoming Foundation board president Valerie Moya. “The donation total is a testament to that and the impact the college has on our community.”
Adding to the foundation’s effort, the college’s faculty and staff have generated more than $7 million in new grants from federal, state and private agencies.
The grants have allowed the college to create innovative programs that directly impact students. For example, last fall Hancock received a $1.2 million boost from the California Community College Chancellor’s Office to provide additional educational and social services for foster youth.
A five-year $919,364 grant from the National Institutes of General Medical Science extended Hancock’s Bridges to the Baccalaureate program, which provides students with paid summer research internships in biology labs at Cal Poly and offers students assistance to transfer to the university.
The college’s agriculture, early childhood studies and PCPA programs have also benefited from grants. PCPA received $50,000 from the MOCA Foundation to continue the outreach program that brings PCPA presentations to local K-12 students.
The CoastHills Community Foundation donated $55,000 to the viticulture, enology and agriculture students.
The Orfalea Foundation grant will allow the college to expand its early childhood study curriculum, hire an instructor and make additions to the center’s state-of-the-art outdoor classroom.
“Our faculty and staff change the odds for our students on a daily basis. The grants the college receives are allowing us to offer innovative classrooms, services and curriculum to help our students succeed,” added Walthers.
The 2016 executive officers of the Allan Hancock College Foundation board of directors were installed in early February 2016. The new officers include Valerie Moya, president; Bob Lotwala, vice president; Guy Walker, treasurer; and Georgia Schrager, secretary.
Students will continue to benefit from the community support. The foundation will award more than 200 scholarships worth nearly $530,000 to students in May 2016.
“Students are proven to be more successful when they feel nurtured, connected, directed, valued, focused and engaged. The grant funding helps meet all of those needs by investing in essential programs and services that benefit our students,” said Walthers.
For more information on the foundation or to donate, call 805.925.2004 or email ahcfoundation@hancockcollege.edu.
— Andrew Masuda is the interim director of public affairs and publications at Allan Hancock College.