Current news from HACC, Feb. 23, 2018 HARRISBURG, Pa. – The HACC Foundation, a nonprofit educational trust established in 1985 to raise private and corporate revenues in support of HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, announces new funds that support the College’s mission of creating opportunities and transforming lives to shape the future - together.
 
Kline Foundation Supports HACC’s Public Safety Center Training Needs
The Josiah W. and Bessie Kline Foundation recently awarded funds to HACC to purchase a newer fire engine. The fire engine will be used for training emergency responders at HACC’s Senator John J. Shumaker Public Safety Center and other locations.
 
Last year, HACC’s Public Safety Center provided training to more than 9,000 emergency responders throughout Pennsylvania. One of the fire engines used in those trainings is a 1984 model, which is outdated and does not meet the standards needed to provide entry-level fire training.
 
Bob Stakem, director of HACC’s Public Safety Center, said, “The newer engine will provide the students with a more relevant training experience, utilizing current technology and resources.”
 
New Scholarship Endowment Benefits Students at HACC’s Lancaster Campus
Lancaster County residents who are full-time students at HACC’s Lancaster Campus will benefit from the Catherine D. Benner Sweigart Endowed Scholarship Fund, a newly established scholarship.
 
Geoffrey M. Platt, principal of Counsel Trust Company and trustee of the will of the late Catherine D. Benner Sweigart, presented a check for $190,000 to John J. “Ski” Sygielski, Ed.D., president of HACC, Central Pennsylvania Community College, and Victor Ramos, vice president of HACC’s Lancaster Campus. The presentation was held Feb. 9, 2018, at the Lancaster office of Counsel Trust Company.
 
In her will, Sweigart requested the fund be established to provide support to students of good character who are in financial need in order to obtain their education at HACC’s Lancaster Campus. Scholarships of $1,000 each will be awarded to eligible students.
 
In addition to being a Lancaster County resident with unmet financial need enrolled full-time at HACC’s Lancaster Campus, eligible recipients also must have graduated from high school four or more years ago and maintain a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0. Eligible students have until March 23, 2018, to apply through Academic Works for fall 2018.
 
Photo Caption: From left, Victor Ramos, vice president of HACC’s Lancaster Campus; Geoffrey M. Platt, principal, Counsel Trust Company; and HACC President John J. “Ski” Sygielski, Ed.D., pose with a check in honor of the recent funding of a new HACC scholarship in the name of the late Catherine D. Benner Sweigart.
 
Recent Gift Helps HACC’s Lancaster Campus Students Facing Emergencies
The Pryor and Arlene Neuber Charitable Trust recently awarded $12,503 to HACC to establish The Pryor and Arlene Neuber Charitable Trust Emergency Assistance Fund. This fund will be used to help students who are enrolled at HACC’s Lancaster Campus.
 
“(The) HACC Foundation has given me hope in the school system that there is help for anyone. I will now be able to care for myself. The emergency assistance fund is greatly appreciated,” said Sierra, a HACC student.
 
Many students who enroll at HACC are the first in their families to pursue postsecondary education and have low-to-moderate income. The emergency assistance funds assist HACC students who could be forced to delay or suspend their education if they do not receive extraordinary financial help.
 
Since 2005, more than 160 students have received emergency assistance funds. While primarily aimed at helping students continue their studies, these funds have occasionally been life-saving. These funds have assisted a student escape domestic abuse, helped a student whose house was destroyed by fire and provided temporary shelter to a homeless student.
 
New Scholarship Supports York Campus Nursing Students
The Memorial Health Fund Lester L. Buchart Nursing Scholarship is a new scholarship that will benefit students at HACC’s York Campus who have been accepted into the Nursing Program, have unmet financial need and a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0.
 
The scholarship was established in December 2017. The funding for the tuition assistance provided by the Memorial Health Fund was made possible through the Lester L. and Anna S. Buchart Nursing Scholarship Fund which was established in 1989.
 
Two scholarships of $1,500 each will be awarded annually. Eligible Nursing Program students have until March 23, 2018, to apply through Academic Works for the 2018-19 academic year.
 
HACC’s nursing students complete general education requirements before applying for the clinical part of the program. An Associate of Arts degree is awarded upon successful completion and enables graduates to sit for the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) and to be licensed by the Pennsylvania State Board of Nursing.
 
“The York Campus program has retention rates that match or exceed the national average and has a percentage of students who pass the licensure examination on the first attempt that consistently exceeds the national average. Additionally, York Campus graduates are chosen by the health-care institutions within the community, and consistently report high satisfaction with their ability to be a valuable team member from the point of hire,” said Cindy Donell, director of nursing programs at the York Campus.
 
This scholarship fund supports HACC's mission to create opportunities and transform lives to shape the future – together, Donell said.
 
About the HACC Foundation
The HACC Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that was established in 1985 to raise private and corporate revenues in support of HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community College. The HACC Foundation provides funding for student scholarships, innovative academic programs, state-of-the art training equipment and modernized facilities. To learn more about the HACC Foundation, please visit haccfoundation.org. To contribute to the HACC Foundation, please visit hacc.edu/GiveNow. 
 
About HACC
HACC, Central Pennsylvania’s Community College, is the first and largest of Pennsylvania’s 14 community colleges. HACC offers over 100 career and transfer associate degree, certificate and diploma programs to approximately 19,000 students. Also, the College serves students at its Gettysburg, Harrisburg, Lancaster, Lebanon and York campuses; through virtual learning; and via workforce development and continuing education training. For more information on how HACC is uniquely YOURS, visit hacc.edu. Also, follow us on Twitter (@HACC_info), like us on Facebook (Facebook.com/HACC64) and use #HACCNews.
 
 
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