Harper launches fundraising campaign
Members of Harper College's Educational Foundation launched one of their most ambitious fundraising campaigns on Friday, but not at a fancy gala.
Instead, nearly 200 supporters attended an "Evening by the Pond" held on the Palatine campus.
They started with a cocktail reception at the reflecting pond located near the center of campus, before heading into the concourse of the college's state of the art Avante building - which houses its science, emerging technology and health careers - for dinner.
In attendance were Harper administrators, trustees and board members, as well as past board members, retired faculty and friends of the college.
"It was sort of like family," said Catherine Brod, executive director of Harper's Educational Foundation. "We thought a casually elegant format was a better venue for us to thank our supporters, and announce the public campaign."
They gathered to support the college's Project Tomorrow campaign, which aims to bring in $7 million by June 30, 2009, for dozens of programs, faculty enrichment opportunities and scholarships.
Specific initiatives include technology to aid deaf and hard-of-hearing students, scholarships, tutoring and materials for adults transitioning into Harper's career programs from GED and English as a Second Language classes; workshops for local small business owners; and equipment for a new nanoscience degree program.
In attendance were donors who already have contributed a combined $3.2 million, including longtime supporters Rita and John Canning, an Inverness couple who gave $500,000.
The couple earmarked the majority of their donation for women's programs scholarships, to offer legal assistance to women, as well as create a class to better train first responders, paralegals, nurses and others in assisting victims of domestic violence.
Rita Canning also serves as president of the board of Women In Need Growing Stronger, or WINGS, based in Palatine, whose mission is to reach out to abused women and children, and those at risk of becoming homeless.