HAMLET — Darinda Quick of Rockingham cried when she learned she received the Working Scholarship this spring semester.
“I wasn’t going to be able to go full time this semester – until I received the Working Scholarship. I was so stressed about how much money I was going to have to pay toward school, so the scholarship put me over the hump,” Quick said. “I don’t receive any financial aid, and I pay for everything out of my own pocket. I don’t receive any financial help from my parents. It was such a joy to get the scholarship and have the money to put myself through school this semester.”
A Richmond Community College photo
The Anniversary Gala at Richmond Community College serves as the primary fundraiser for the Working Scholarship. This year’s Gala will be held April 25 and will feature entertainment by The Boomers.
Quick, who works at Lowes while going to college at RCC, is enrolled in the Medical Assisting program and wants to become a Certified Medical Assistant. She is one of more than 50 local students who benefitted last year from the Working Scholarship, which was created by the RCC Foundation in response to working students and families who were being denied full state and federal financial aid options because they were earning a living.
“We saw students who, in essence, were being punished for working because they were making too much money to qualify for financial aid. But they couldn’t quit working because they were having to support a family while trying to get an education,” said Dr. Dale McInnis, RCC president.
“For our students whose lives are defined by hard work in and out of the classroom, this scholarship is precisely the morale booster that we have been searching for,” said Foundation Executive Director Olivia Webb. “For many of them, the Working Scholarship is the determining factor in whether they can attend college, or whether they attend on a full- or part-time basis.”
Monica Gunter of Rockingham was another student who benefitted from the program. Gunter is employed as a respiratory therapist at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center and will graduate from RCC’s Associate Degree Nursing program in 2016.
“It was a blessing for me to receive the Working Scholarship because I didn’t really have all the money that I needed to pay for school,” Gunter said.
Anniversary gala
The primary fundraiser for the Working Scholarship is RCC’s Anniversary Gala, which will be held this year on April 25.
“Last year’s Gala brought in a large portion of the funds required to operate the Working Scholarship for an entire year,” said Webb, who added this year’s ball would follow the same format.
Entertainment will be provided by The Boomers, a band whose performances have ranged from the ’97 Presidential Inaugural Ball to the 2012 NFL Owners Meeting with hundreds of wedding receptions in between. The Boomers members have been featured on national television shows such as “Good Morning America,” “Regis and Kathy Lee” and “The Rosie O’ Donald Show,” and they were part of the ’97 Academy of Country Music Awards house band.
Corporate sponsorship opportunities are tax-deductible and begin at $1,000, which includes two tickets to the event, as well as recognition on all marketing materials. Individual tickets are being sold for $50.
“Having seen the impact the Working Scholarship has had on our students in its first year, we’re hopeful this fall we’ll be able to expand it,” said Webb. “Our goal is to be able to assist all qualified students who are in need. As demand for this scholarship increases, the Foundation will work harder to achieve that goal.”
For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the RCC Foundation Office at 910-410-1807 or bowebb@richmondcc.edu.
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