Column: Steve Bowron, Riverland Comm. College

As you are preparing for special time with family and friends this holiday season, giving may be on your mind. Whether a gift for a family member or friend or to a favorite charity, giving to others helps us feel the spirit of the season. As you contemplate ways to make a difference for others this year, please consider a tax-deductible financial gift to the Riverland Community College Foundation.

The sole purpose of the Riverland Community College Foundation is to raise, manage and distribute resources to support, enhance and promote the educational opportunities Riverland Community College offers the people of our region.

Now more than ever attending college is financially challenging. Even though community and technical colleges are still one of the least expensive college options, today’s financial times make college expenses a difficult burden for many.

Currently, Riverland receives less state support than it did in fiscal year 2002. A 25 percent enrollment increase during the past two years makes supplemental private support more important than ever.

The Riverland Community College Foundation and its benefactors reduce our students’ burden through scholarships. Each year, the foundation successfully funds more than 150 students, while turning away more than 100 students because of insufficient funding.

The foundation invests in students who have taken responsibility for their lives and committed to improve themselves through education. They show the desire and determination needed to pursue their future. Your contribution is an investment that could help similar students achieve their goals.

Your support helps prevent the foundation from turning away more qualified students. Riverland college students are more than just traditional students beginning college out of high school. They are sometimes returning to college later in life. Some are dislocated workers returning for additional training to regain meaningful employment in our communities. Most are working one or more jobs and struggling to make ends meet. All want to contribute positively to their community as skilled workers.

Donors may contribute to the foundation in a number of different ways:

• Named scholarships established in the name of a donor or an individual honored or memorialized.

• Endowed scholarships are donations of $10,000 or more and may be named for someone special. Only the interest income, in accordance with the donors’ wishes, funds a specific purpose or area of greatest need. Endowment gifts help Riverland students perpetually.

• Financial gifts to instructional programs to equip classrooms or labs with the latest tools, technology and equipment.

• Planned giving allows you to make a meaningful charitable gift through your will and enhance your and your family’s future well being.

Donors may give through gifts of cash, securities, real and personal property. No gift is too small or too large. For more information about giving to the Riverland Community College Foundation, please contact the Foundation Office at 507-433-0630 or visit www.riverland.edu/foundation.

Please consider Riverland Community College Foundation in your giving and help us invest in our students. Thank you for your continued support and kindness. Have a wonderful holiday season!

Steve Bowron is the dean for institutional advancement.