WCC Foundation tournament brings record donations
By From staff reports
Published in News on July 6, 2014 1:50 AM
Full Size
Submitted photo
Wayne Community College Foundation Scholarship Invitational has again had a record-breaking year raising funds for student scholarships. Celebrating the accomplishment, from left, are WCC President Kay Albertson; David Jackson and Danny Jackson, representing tournament sponsor Jackson & Sons Heating and Air Conditioning; and WCC Foundation Scholarship Invitational Co-Chairs Meagan Bourgeois and Jeff Jackson.
The Wayne Community College Foundation Scholarship Invitational has exceeded organizers' expectations again this year.
The recent event netted $150,000, exceeding the $135,000 goal set by organizers. All of the money goes to scholarships for WCC students and will fund more than 200 scholarships in the 2014-2015 academic year.
"This is the most successful tournament we've had," Foundation Executive Director Jack Kannan said. "These funds are critically important. More students than ever are seeking financial assistance and the sponsors know this and stepped up again this year."
The total raised in the event's 22-year history is more than one million dollars.
The event's live and silent auctions and golf tournament held in June at Walnut Creek Country Club, combined with sponsorships and donations, surpassed last year's tournament, which brought in more than $133,000.
Invitational Co-Chairman Jeff Jackson said credit for the banner year goes to sponsors and donors as well as the organizers and volunteers. Eighty-three businesses and individuals served as sponsors for this year's tournament at six financial levels.
"I'm amazed every year at what we're able to accomplish," said David Jackson of Jackson and Sons Heating and Air Conditioning, one of the sponsors. "It is a very important cause for our community."
Danny Jackson, also of Jackson and Sons, said that it is why his company supports the Invitational at the level it does and why they encourage others to contribute.
"The college and foundation are helping people be self-sufficient. That is the part that David and I are so passionate about," Danny Jackson said.
In addition to being a primary source of funding for WCC student scholarships, it has also grown in reputation as the premier tournament in the North Carolina community college system, Kannan said. It has also been recognized by the state community college development officers' organization as a model to imitate, he said.
Wooten Oil Company founded the event in 1993 as a way to contribute to a cause that would use all of the money raised locally. Dillon Wooten and his business Wooten Development Company continue to be involved in it.