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Your Donations at Work
The PJC Foundation is very proud of the support alumni and this community have given us as we strive to make PJC one of Florida's premiere community colleges. We would like to share with you some of our successes and show you how Foundation funds are being used to help our students and faculty in their quest for academic excellence. The following is just one of countless success stories. Check back often though -- we will be bringing you a new story regularly. If you just can't wait and would like to view more now, please view the current edition of the Compendium (the Foundation newsletter), as well as past issues.
New Scholarship Targets Those Who Need Help the Most
With 70 percent of adults in Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties not holding college degrees, a new scholarship targeting students whose parents didn’t complete college is a godsend to the Gulf Coast. Students who are the first in their families to go to college face many challenges. They are the first to tackle college registration, paperwork, classes and study habits. They are the first to juggle a work load with college studies. They are the first to realize that high school didn’t adequately prepare them for the college.
First Generation Scholarships will help remove at least one obstacle for these students. They will earn at least $180,000 averaged over 30 years more than their peers who didn’t become first generation college graduates. When the First Generation Scholarship was introduced late in 2006, several generous donors stepped forward to help deserving students become the first in their families to attend PJC.
Gene Rosenbaum, Southern Scrap and Waste Hauling Company president, says he and his brother Joe would have been candidates for a First Generation Scholarship had there been one when they were college students. So, it made sense for their family’s company to support this scholarship fund. In addition, he sees the positive effect of education in the lives of his employees.
“We are aware of the importance that a college education is for our employees and their family members because many of them would also be considered ‘First Generation.’ Southern Scrap has provided employment for thousands of individuals over the past 70 years and has always stressed the need for higher education to our work force,” says Rosenbaum. “This First Generation Scholarship with matching State dollars is a wonderful opportunity for our organization to support PJC and our community. It offers us both a privilege and a pleasure to participate.”
Rosenbaum attended PJC in 1955 and currently serves on the Foundation Board of Governors, is an athletic program sponsor, a member of the Anna Society, and is involved with WSRE-TV. Bank of Pensacola gave to the First Generation Scholarship for several reasons, according to Bo Carter, president and chief executive officer. “We contributed because we see the need for a better trained workforce and the need to provide opportunities to those who cannot afford college,” Carter explains. Carter sees firsthand the benefits of being able to tap into an educated workforce. And as a financier, he likes the wisdom of investing in a scholarship that matches his donation dollar-for-dollar.
“The match from the State makes this a very efficient method to support our community college,” says Carter, who has served as PJC Foundation chair and is a Foundation director emeritus. This is Bank of Pensacola’s second endowed scholarship for PJC students.
Tom Gilliam, a partner in the law firm of Shell, Fleming, Davis & Menge, says his firm wanted to support the First Generation Scholarship partly because it carries PJC’ s educational mission one step further. “Through matched gifts such as this, we know that PJC will be able to reach out to families who have never received the benefit of a college education,” Gilliam says. Gilliam believes the money invested today will have a trickle-down effect for many years. “If an appreciation for knowledge can be kindled in just one family, then these scholarships will yield benefits for years to come. The Shell, Fleming, Davis and Menge family is happy to be part of such a worthy effort,” Gilliam says. “During our long association with PJC we have witnessed the value of PJC's service to our community. As the college uplifts our citizens with a solid educational base, it also empowers people with a sense of personal development, access to better employment, and pride in accomplishing a goal.”
Robin Herr, president and chief executive officer of Health First Network, says his organization of 600 practicing physicians is acutely aware of the need for well-trained workers in the medical field. “They recognized the growing need for medical support personnel and the ‘value added’ education provided by PJC. The fact that it is for first generation students only adds to its appeal,” Herr says. “Our organizational goal is to improve health care and quality of life. Our financial participation in the education of students is an important aspect of this goal.”
First Generation Scholarship Donors
The Angus
Mr. and Mrs. David “Doc” Bailey
Captain George T. Bailey
Bank of America
Bank of Pensacola
Baroco Electric Construction Company
Carolyn R. Davis
Foundation for Florida’s Community Colleges, Inc.
Gulf Power Foundation, Inc.
HDR Engineering, Inc.
Health First Network
Christine D. Isham
Kelton Co.
Shell, Fleming, Davis & Menge, Attorneys At Law
Roger D. Sherman
Society of the Debutante Cotillion
Southern Scrap Company
Kenneth H. Woolf
For additional information, contact the PJC Foundation Office by phone at (850) 484-1560 or by email to foundation@pjc.edu.
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Take Aim for Scholarships
Friends of PJC
Career Vision
Compendium (News at the Foundation)
Salute to Success
PJC Foundation Heroes - Donor Spotlight
PJC - An Overview of the College