WCC Foundation Scholarship tournament nets $176,000
By Staff Reports
Published in News on August 7, 2016 1:45 AM
The Wayne Community College Foundation Scholarship Invitational Golf Tournament again exceeded its $170,000 goal -- netting $176,000 that will be used for WCC scholarships during the 2016-2017 academic year.
The pool of money is essential for supporting students, said Foundation executive director Adrienne Northington.
"Without our assistance, students would not be able to attend Wayne Community College," she said.
To date, the total raised from the event's 24-year history tops more than $1.6 million.
Held annually at Walnut Creek Country Club, in addition to the golf tournament, it features live and silent auctions. Sponsorships and donations helped it exceed the goal. Last year's event brought in more than $167,000.
Nearly 100 businesses and individuals served as sponsors for this year's tournament at eight financial levels. Dozens of people and businesses donated items for the auctions that brought in $24,461. Students and employees at the college provided a volunteer workforce throughout the event.
David Jackson, whose company Jackson and Sons Heating and Air Conditioning was an invitational sponsor, said the cause is an easy one to support, especially when he has seen how grateful students are for the opportunity to improve their lives through education.
Candace Jones, a student recipient of Foundation scholarships, spoke at this year's dinner.
The WCC alumna graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and has been admitted into Columbia University's higher and postsecondary education master's degree program. During her time at WCC, she had worked in the Foundation office through the federal work-study program and received several Foundation scholarships.
"I walked into the Foundation Office as the girl who was never supposed to make it, as the girl who was lucky just to have graduated from high school," she told the audience. "My entire life changed when my scholarship donors decided to take a chance on me and provide financial assistance to a stranger whom they weren't even sure would appreciate their generosity in return.
"If you don't remember anything else that I have said tonight, please, just remember that your scholarships can completely change someone's life, just as they have completely changed mine."
Wooten Oil Co. 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 and is still involved in it, officials said.