Anonymous Donor Gives SRJC $1M Gift

Santa Rosa Junior College officials said today that an anonymous donor has given a gift of $1 million to the school to be used for student scholarships.

“I am extremely touched by the continuing support of our anonymous donor,” said SRJC Superintendent/President Frank Chong.

“In light of the recent cutbacks to SRJC, this gift could not have come at a more opportune time for our students," Chong added. "This gift from an angel in the community is an investment in the future workforce in Sonoma County."

The SRJC Foundation received the donation during the holiday break. In early 2012, the same donor gave the college a gift of $5 million.

The donor hopes this additional gift will inspire others in our community to support SRJC students.

With this new donation, the SRJC Foundation expects to give more than $200,000 per year to students from the endowment, with scholarship amounts typically ranging from $500-$1,500. 

The latest donation to SRJC will be added to the existing endowment, which provides three new scholarship programs SRJC established for continuing and transfer students.

These programs include:

--Teaching Fellows Program matching 23 current SRJC students with faculty members for the spring 2013 semester. The program’s goal is to encourage motivated students to pursue careers in the teaching professions and become exemplary educators, counselors or school administrators. Students will receive a scholarship for their participation.

--Completion Incentive Award to assist students working towards their goal of attaining a certificate or AA degree in a timely and efficient manner. 

--Need Based Scholarships for low-income students with high GPAs transferring from SRJC to 4-year colleges. It also funds scholarships for students nearing completion of their SRJC studies, who lost federal financial aid through the Pell grant program.

 “We are so fortunate to live in a community where we have a world-class community college like SRJC," said SRJC Foundation Board Chair Don Chigazola. "it is the generous support demonstrated by donors, such as this individual, that enables our students to realize their dreams."

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