Piedmont Technical College employees donate record-breaking $35,500 to support students

For the second consecutive year, Piedmont Technical College (PTC) employees donated a record-breaking amount to support students.

This year, 160 faculty and staff members pledged to donate $35,500, exceeding the $33,000 goal for the Employee Giving Campaign. The total also topped last year’s record-breaking $28,000 in donations.

“Thanks to the generosity of the PTC family, we successfully completed our Employee Giving Campaign and surpassed previous records for both participation and donations, making this our most successful campaign yet!” said PTC Foundation Development Coordinator Kathryn W. Roberts. “Every gift made during this campaign supports our students through the Student Emergency Fund, Hope Pantry and other vital resources, helping remove barriers and create opportunities for success.”
Roberts thanked employees for the “generosity, commitment and heart you showed throughout this campaign.

“This is what makes PTC special,” she said. “Because of you, we rose together.”

The Employee Giving Campaign was launched during PTC’s convocation on Aug. 11. 

During a presentation at convocation, PTC Associate Vice President for Advancement Jacki G. Berkshire told faculty and staff members about a student who benefitted from last year’s employee donations.

“She didn’t tell anyone at first, but then her struggles became too much, and she reached out to the president of her college,” Berkshire said. “She discussed how her grades were slipping, how college was hard, how food was scarce and rent was due. She was exhausted and she was scared. She couldn’t even concentrate.”

The student was offered food from the Hope Pantry and support for rent, Berkshire said.

“But most of all she was gifted the confidence that her college – our college – had her back,” Berkshire said. “Her needs were met. Her grades improved. You did that. We did that together.”

According to Berkshire’s presentation, the money donated by 113 PTC employees during the last academic year also provided:
•    Welding equipment, scrubs and other academic supplies to students.
•    Gas cards to students who needed transportation to internships.
•    Immediate support for a student who fell victim to an online scam.

In a video shown at convocation, PTC Campus Security Lt. Matthew Blackwell said he is donating to the Employee Giving Campaign “because Piedmont Technical College to me is family.”

“Not only do I want to protect our students, but I also want to make sure that there are no barriers that will prevent them from attaining their goals of earning a diploma or a certificate,” Blackwell said. “It does feel good to make a difference by giving.”

Bonnie Welch-Graham, assistant director of enrollment operations, also was featured in the video.

“It is up to us to provide opportunities to students to better themselves and their families,” she said.