Annual Fund Committee Celebrates Successful Campaign
Dyersburg State Community College (DSCC) celebrated another year of successful fundraising with $2,036,801.98 raised by the DSCC Annual Fund committees and the DSCC faculty and staff during the 2018-19 academic year. A celebration dinner was held on the evening of June 11 inside the Student Center on the Dyersburg campus to recognize the hard work of committee members and the generosity of 442 donors.
DSCC President Karen Bowyer welcomed campaign members and guests at this event, along with DSCC staff. Co-Chairs Dr. Karen Bowyer and Beth Feith directed the campaign with the help of committee members from Dyer, Gibson and Tipton counties.
The celebration began with the naming of the Katie Cottrell Winchester Outdoor Terrace, located adjacent to the DSCC Student Center. The Terrace was named in honor of the late Katie Winchester, longtime supporter of DSCC and her community. Winchester began her banking career with First Citizens National Bank in 1961 and served as Chairman Emeritus, Chairman, and President and CEO. She served on the DSCC Foundation Board and Annual Fund Committee for 25 years. A relentless supporter of higher education and DSCC, she chaired the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 DSCC Annual Fund Campaigns raising $822,378 and $1,045,017 respectively. On hand for the naming ceremony were members of the board of directors at First Citizens National Bank, her sister Janie Clements, her friend Virgie Adair, and Annual Fund committee members and guests.
Highlighting the event were the presentations of the Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Regents’ Award for Excellence in Philanthropy to the Richard Donner family and the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy to the Eddie Burks family. Regent Leigh Shockey presented the prestigious awards to the recipients.
The late Dick and Martha Donner contributed to the DSCC Annual Fund from 1985 to 2017. An initial gift was made in 1991 to establish the Dick and Martha Donner Endowed Scholarship. Dick and Martha Donner’s son, Richard, has continued the family’s generous support of providing scholarships to students through his contributions to the College and by serving on the DSCC Foundation Board and Annual Fund Campaign Committee for over 19 years.
Eddie Burks and his daughters, Mary Burks Lenahan and Natalie Burks Patterson, have contributed to the DSCC Annual Fund since 1985. The family has donated to the Annual Fund either in the form of monetary donations or gifts in kind. Eddie Burks has served on the DSCC Foundation board of directors and chaired the 1987-1988 Annual Fund Campaign. Mary Burks Lenahan has also served on the DSCC Foundation board of directors and arranges for in-kind donations to College events. Natalie Burks Patterson assists with scheduling College events at their home, which is widely used in the community as an event venue. The Burks family are true advocates of higher education and their contributions reflect their commitment to educating our workforce and building our local communities.
Student guest speaker Jordan Warren of Dyersburg, a recipient of the Robert Cloar Scholarship, the Dick and Martha Donner Scholarship and the Forcum Lannom Contractors-Don Pennington Scholarship, thanked her donors for their generous support, which provided her with funding to help cover tuition and other needed expenses. Warren is currently pursuing an Associate of Science degree in General Studies. She plans to graduate in spring 2020 and transfer to a university to pursue a bachelor’s degree in art and animation and graphic design.
DSCC’s Annual Fund Campaign was established in 1985 in order to raise the matching funds needed for the Center of Emphasis. The nursing program is the current center of Emphasis at DSCC. During the past 34 years, $28,419,009.15 has been raised in our region. These monies have been awarded to students for scholarships or invested in academic programs. In 2018-19, 718 students received assistance from the Annual Fund.