Central Montcalm Community Foundation (CMCF) recently awarded Montcalm Community College $35,000 to support the college’s “Transforming Lives, Empowering People” campaign.

Through this gift, an exam room in the Kenneth J. Smith Building on MCC’s Sidney campus, similar to one found in a doctor’s office or hospital, has been named on behalf of CMCF.

Ginger Gurecki, CMCF Board President, said the organization chose to support the college through this contribution because “partnerships are essential to the long-term success of our area.”

“One of the reasons we donated is we feel as a Board that MCC is part of our Central Montcalm community and plays a big role in the value of education that our Board is so passionate about,” Gurecki said.

Gurecki said the college’s project supports the CMCF’s mission to enhance the quality of life in the Central Montcalm area through grants funded by the annual earnings generated from the gifts, bequests and estates contributed as endowments.

“We believe this is a meaningful project and is there to help support growth in our Central Montcalm community,” Gurecki said. “We want to invest in areas that will be of value and provide help in our community.

“Looking at MCC, it’s sustainability. The college has been here for a long time, and we expect it will be here for a long time in the future,” she added.

“Looking around our small community, there are a lot of big hearts,” Gurecki said. “We are so appreciative of those who have supported the CMCF through gifts of cash, securities, real estate, life insurance and other contributions. It is because of these generous supporters that the CMCF is able to provide support to enhance opportunities throughout our area.”

MCC Foundation Executive Director Lisa Lund said this gift is a generous demonstration of the commitment by the CMCF to support high-quality education in our community.

“Investments like this positively impact our community and region for years to come,” she said. “We are grateful for this partnership as we all strive to meet the educational needs in our community.”

MCC’s “Transforming Lives, Empowering People” campaign is designed to develop resources and programs to help students gain access and be successful at MCC.

The lead initiative of the “Transforming Lives, Empowering People” campaign was the $5 million renovation of the Kenneth J. Smith Instructional Building, which opened earlier this year. The Smith Building is a major campus destination as it holds more than half of the college’s Sidney campus classroom space, its flagship nursing program, and courses in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). The Smith Building is the college’s Center for Nursing & Health Careers and the Center for STEM Learning. Specialized spaces include clinical simulation labs, preparation and debriefing rooms, treatment rooms, a clinical testing and training apartment lab, science and biology labs, phlebotomy labs and specialized student learning spaces, as well as the addition of specialized equipment and technology.

In addition to the Smith Building renovation, other campaign initiatives include:

• $500,000 toward a STEM Program Development and Technology Fund for equipment, technology and curriculum to support teaching and learning.
• $500,000 toward First-Generation Scholarships to benefit students who are the first in their family to go to college.
• $250,000 toward Mid-Career Scholarships to benefit middle-income students who do not qualify for financial aid, but also do not have the means to pay cash for college.
• $450,000 toward Program-Specific Scholarships to benefit students in specific program pathways.
• $300,000 toward the MCC Express Conductor Program to provide a point of contact (conductor) to work with students from their first point of contact with the college to the time they enter classes and throughout their time at MCC.

For more information about MCC’s “Transforming Lives, Empowering People” campaign, visit montcalm.edu/mccf or contact MCCF Executive Director Lisa Lund at lisal@montcalm.edu or 989-328-1284.

Media contact:
Shelly Springborn
Director of Communications and Public Relations
shellys@montcalm.edu
989-560-0833