GCCEF Scholarship Monte Carlo Night wins big for students

A record $150,000 was raised at the 20th Annual Germanna Community College Educational Foundation Scholarship Monte Carlo Night Saturday night at GCC’s Daniel Technology Center in Culpeper.

Guests arrive at GCC Daniel Center
 for Scholarship Monte Carlo Night.

The event has raised over $1 million over time for scholarships for local students.
Germanna President David A. Sam welcomed a crowd of over 250, saying, “Because of your generosity, our students are already winners.”

All proceeds go to the Germanna Guarantee Program, which helps students with financial need make up gaps left by financial aid in order to allow them to continue their educations.

Fred Rankin to be honored as GCC Educational Foundation's Distinguished Person of the Year on Feb. 10

The Germanna Community College Educational Foundation will award its 2012 Distinguished Person of the Year award to Mr. Fred M. Rankin III, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mary Washington Healthcare, at 6 p.m. on Feb. 10 at the Fredericksburg Country Club.

"Fred Rankin is a difference-maker," GCC President David A. Sam said. "He's made a difference in our community and he and Mary Washington Healthcare have made a difference for Germanna's 15,000 students. I don't think he knows how much of a positive impact he's had on our college and our area."

In 1992, Mr. Rankin was named president of Mary Washington Hospital. In 1995, he was promoted to and continues in his current position with Mary Washington Healthcare. Under Mr. Rankin's leadership, Mary Washington Healthcare has been Germanna's biggest corporate benefactor, investing $1.4 million in the college.

"Mr Rankin and Mary Washington Healthcare have been critical partners in developing Germanna's highly-respected nursing program and helping us double the program's size," said Michael Catell, director of GCC's Educational Foundation and Alumni Relations,

The event will begin with a 6 p.m. reception, followed by dinner and the award presentation.

Go to www.germanna.edu or call 540/834-8988 for reservations or to inquire about sponsorship opportunities.



Germanna Educational Foundation Distinguished Person Of The Year BanquetDate: Friday, Feb 10th, 2012

Time: 6 p.m.
Location: Fredericksburg Country Club

Cost: $75 Per Person

Share in a very special evening to honor this year's recipient Fred M. Rankin III. President and Chief Executive Officer, Mary Washington Healthcare.

The reception will be followed by dinner and award presentation.

J.F. Fick foursome wins GCCEF's 6th Annual Ray Glazebrook Memorial Tournament, which raises $25,000

Congratulations to the team from J.F. Fick Inc, which won the Germanna Educational Foundation's 6th Annual Ray Glazebrook Memorial Golf tournament at Cannon Ridge Golf Club.
The victorious foursome consisted of John Fick, Preston Cox, P.J. Cox and Carl Shade.
Taking second place was Pelham Court Motors, which consisted of Eddie Tolson, Eddie Bennett, Taylor Bennett and Richard Stapleton.
Hallberg & O’Malley Financial took third with a foursome of Chris Hallberg, Michael O’Malley, Nick Seay and Keith Wampler,
The event raised a preliminary total of over $25,000 for the GCC Educational Foundation, Executive Director Mike Catell said.

Record total of scholarship funds raised at Germanna's Monte Carlo Night

Despite difficult economic times, Saturday night’s Germanna Educational Foundation Monte Carlo Casino Night scholarship fundraiser at the GCC Daniel Center in Culpeper set a record by raising over $100,000. All proceeds go the Germanna Guarantee Scholarship Program, which helps students who have financial need and can’t get enough aid from other source. One hundred and eighty people attended the event.

Germanna Educational Foundation 2011 Monte Carlo Night Co-Chair Clarissa Berry of Madison County said Saturday night’s event “couldn’t have gone any better.”

The foundation easily surpassed its goal of raising $100,000.

“This is our 17th year and we’ve raised more money than we ever have, and have one of the biggest crowds we’ve ever had,” Berry said. “The fact that people came out during hard economic times has blown me away.”

Culpeper resident Erica Hodge, a GGP scholarship recipient who graduated and became a nurse in 2010 altered the course of her life and saved her family’s home.

“If it wasn’t for the Germanna Guarantee Program, I would still be in school after having to take a year off,” Hodge said. “Because of it, I was able to start my career and grow my family and focus on continuing my education.” 

The 29-year-old Hodge, who has a 5-year-old son, was on the verge of dropping out of Germanna in December 2009 when her husband’s work hours were cut because of the recession. The scholarship she then received from GGP allowed her to stay and school and get her degree and become an LPN, then get a job working in a doctor’s office in Fredericksburg.

Because of the impact the recession had on her family’s income, they had found themselves in a whole, “and my first paycheck as a nurse came just in time to save our house,” she said.

“Everything fell into place for me because of the Germanna Guarantee,” Hodge said Saturday night during Monte Carlo Night at the Daniel Center. “When I found out about the Germanna Guarantee Program, I was amazed that people care so much about their community that they would help students they don’t know--help people like me and my family.”

As if to add an exclamation point, she then won a free trip for two to Las Vegas as Monte Carlo Night wound down Saturday.

Each year, the event features Las Vegas-style gambling for big prizes, libations, dinner, live music and dancing.

GCC honors Sen. John Chichester

Karen Chichester, Sen. John Chichester and GCC President David Sam at the Distinguished Person of the GCC Educational Foundation of the Year banquet.

Retired Sen. John Chichester, long a supporter of higher education in Virginia, is Germanna Community College's Distinguished Person of the Year for 2010. He was honored at a GCC Educational Foundation Banquet for which Mary Washington Healthcare was the major sponsor. Speaker of the House Bill Howell, VCCS Chancellor Glenn DuBois and Germanna President David A. Sam were among the speakers at the event.

Chichester to be honored at June 3 Germanna Educational Foundation dinner

Retired Virginia State Sen. John Chichester has been named the Germanna Community College Educational Foundation’s Distinguished Person of the Year.

Mike Catell, Director of the GCC Educational Foundation, said Chichester was chosen “because of his extraordinary commitment to higher education--in particular his support of the mission of community colleges.”

Mary Washington Healthcare is the title sponsor of a June 3 event in his honor.

Chichester was President Pro Tempore of the Virginia Senate when he announced his retirement in 2007. He represented the 28th district in the Senate from 1978 to 2007. He initially entered that body by winning a special election following the death of Paul Manns, who had held the seat.

In 1985, the Republican Party nominated him for lieutenant governor, but he lost to Doug Wilder, who went on to become Virginia’s first African American governor since Reconstruction.

In 1995, Chichester became co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee. When the Republicans took control of the Senate in 1999, he became the committee’s chairman, a position of power and prestige.

There will be a 6 p.m. reception on Thursday, June 3 at Fredericksburg Square, followed by dinner and an award presentation.

The dinner is $100 a plate, with all proceeds going to the Educational Foundation. Contact the Educational Foundation office at 540/423-9060 or foundation@germanna.edu for more information and to purchase tickets.

For sponsorship and other gift opportunities, please contact Darla Burton, Foundation Executive Committee member at 540/371-3566 or Mike Catell, Foundation Director at 540/834-8988

Despite recession, Germanna employees double their contributions to charity over 2008 total

Hard times don't deter Germanna Community College employees from increasing charitable giving ...

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Shrugging off the impact of the recession, Germanna employees more than doubled the amount pledged to the Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign, compared to 2008. GCC employees pledged $7,712.00. Nearly $1,000 of that total was designated to the Germanna Educational Foundation. Since 1997, state employees have raised over $25 million for over 1,300 charities through the campaign.
"Despite challenging times, Germanna faculty and staff have once again demonstrated their extraordinary commitment to the students and communities we serve," said Michael Catell, Director of the Germanna Educational Foundation and Alumni Relations. "Thank you very much!"