W.D. “Bill” Burks Memorial Student Emergency Fund Endowment established at Elizabethtown Community and Technical College
The endowed fund will provide financial assistance to Elizabethtown Community and Technical College students who face emergency situations during their time at school. The existence of the fund is intended to help students be able to stay in school in spite of financial hardships.
Elizabethtown Community and Technical College has received a gift of $100,000 from E. Jo Anne García-Meléndez to establish the W.D. “Bill” Burks Memorial Student Emergency Fund Endowment in memory of her father. William Davis Burks was a founding member of Elizabethtown Community and Technical College. The emergency fund bearing his name will help students stay in school when expensive emergency situations arise, allowing them to complete their schooling despite difficult circumstances.
According to an article on Elizabethtown Community and Technical College’s website, García-Meléndez explained that her father was involved in the committee that brought community college education to the area, and that she believed he would wish for her to establish this fund in his memory. She is quoted as saying, “The committee of local businessmen traveled to Frankfort in 1960 to sell the idea and help get necessary legislation passed, raised money to purchase land for building the first community college in Kentucky, and oversaw its opening in 1964. I believe that my father would fully support extending a helping hand to ECTC students who face emergency situations that could endanger their ability to stay in school. Therefore, I am honored to endow a Student Emergency Fund in his memory.”
The initial gift of the endowment by García-Meléndez will be matched by the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. The System matches gifts of $50,000 to $250,000. With this match, the W.D. “Bill” Burks Memorial Student Emergency Fund will have $200,000 in funding to provide to students in need of emergency financial assistance.
ECTC’s Vice President of Advancement and the KCTCS Foundation’s Executive Director Dr. Megan Stith said, “Unexpected circumstances can derail the progress of ECTC students working to accomplish their goals and build a better life. We are grateful for this endowment that honors one of ECTC's founders by helping to remove unanticipated obstacles that threaten students’ ability to succeed.”
For more information about Elizabethtown Community and Technical College, visit the school’s website.