Guests at the Bellevue Community College Foundation’s Creating Opportunities Luncheon April 26 have contributed a total of $191,185 so far to support student scholarships and extraordinary programs at the college.
The total is expected to rise in coming days as contributions and matching gifts from donors and their employers continue to be received.
The gift total is 6 percent higher than the results from last year’s luncheon.
More than 460 guests attended the event at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue. Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna emceed the program, and former Western Wireless Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Stanton gave the keynote address, discussing the economic opportunities in store for the Eastside.
Led by Wells Fargo Bank as premier corporate sponsor, a total of 30 local businesses underwrote the entire luncheon, so that every dollar given by guests would go to support students and programs.
“The outpouring of gifts at our luncheon yesterday will help us keep the doors of opportunity open to students for whom higher education would otherwise be just a dream,” said Gaynor Hills, BCC Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Executive Director of the BCC Foundation. “All of us at BCC and the BCC Foundation are extremely grateful for the generous and growing support of the community.”
Since its inception the BCC Foundation has raised more than $20 million on behalf of Bellevue Community College. Through a combination of individual, foundation and corporate donations, the Foundation provides funding for scholarships, program enhancements and mini-grants for faculty and staff projects.