While the 74th annual Hopkinsville Rotary Club’s auction is busy this week raising money for the youth of Christian County, one of its benefactors was in the spotlight Thursday morning.
Hopkinsville Community College hosted its annual community breakfast and hosted the new KCTCS President Dr. Ryan Quarles.
HCC President and CEO Dr. Alissa Young stressed to those attending the breakfast the importance of the relationship between HCC and the community.
click to download audioOn the same day as KCTCS Giving Day, Dr. Young took time to honor the Hopkinsville Rotary Club for its long-standing partnership with HCC. In 2012, the rotary club and HCC began what Dr. Young called a transformational investment to pay the full tuition cost of any Christian County student attending Hopkinsville Community College.
click to download audioDr. Lana Bastin, president of the HCC Foundation, honored the Rotary Club, which was represented by President Brandon Killebrew
click to download audioKillebrew said the partnership between the Rotary Club and Hopkinsville Community has been a long-standing commitment with the same goal. Over $8 million has been loaned to over 9,000 students to help with the cost of attending college.
click to download audioAustin Calvert was one of the first high school graduates to take part in the program. A 2012 graduate of Hopkinsville High School, Calvert got a degree from HCC in 2014 and later from Murray State University in 2016. He then returned home to Hopkinsville where he is an insurance agent. While some of his classmates wanted to bolt Hopkinsville after high school, Calvert wanted to stay home and get involved.
click to download audioDr. Young also highlighted other successful programs at the breakfast, including the school’s Pathfinder pantry program and the school’s emergency fund because as she said — “life happens.” She said the school decided students don’t have to stop out or drop out of school because of an emergency in their lives.
