| Carol (seated left) and Jack Hennessee (seated center) present a $15,000 check to Dr. Don Tomas (seated right), SCC president, to endow a scholarship on behalf of the W.C. and Stella Hennessee Foundation on Dec. 15 in Sylva. Standing behind them are Charles Wolfe (left), honorary member of the SCC Foundation’s board of directors, and Brett Woods, director of the SCC Foundation. |
Continuing a long tradition of supporting healthcare in Jackson County, Jack and Carol Hennessee recently endowed a $15,000 scholarship at Southwestern Community College on behalf of the W.C. and Stella Hennessee Foundation.
The Hennessees made the donation in December of 2016 to the SCC Foundation, which will administer the scholarship.
“I’ve known Jack and Carol for several years, and I know their desire to help people is genuine,” said Dr. Don Tomas, president of SCC. “We’re pleased they’ve decided to endow this scholarship through the SCC Foundation. Their gift will benefit our students for years to come.”
The principal of the donation will remain untouched in perpetuity while a portion of the earnings from the investment will be made available to support health sciences students at SCC.
SCC currently has 14 health sciences programs and is in the process of planning a new health sciences building that will allow the college to accept more health sciences students than ever.
Over the years, the Hennessee foundation donated more than $1 million to Harris Regional Hospital. The Hennessee foundation can only donate to non-profits, so the hospital was no longer an option for gifts after it became a for-profit institution.
Through SCC’s non-profit foundation, the Hennessees are still able to impact healthcare in the region.
“Jack and I want to help the students of Jackson County to have a brighter future,” Carol Hennessee said. “The goal of our foundation is to benefit the communities and people of Jackson County. When you support health sciences students at SCC, the long-term result is that we all benefit because these are the people who will take care of us at the doctor’s office and the hospital.”
Following are criteria necessary to apply for this scholarship:
- Applicant must have a 3.0 gpa or higher
- Applicant must be in the Nursing or RIBN program
