Coastal Bend Community Foundation Presents $50,000 Grant to Del Mar College (VIDEO: added 4/11/22)
Funds to Support New Textbook Lending Program and DMC Foundation's Student Emergency Fund
Article by Melinda Eddleman
Each year, the average college student spends $1,260 on textbooks. And, for students in highly specialized majors targeting the workforce––including nursing, dental hygiene and dental assisting, chemistry and biomedicine, among others––those instructional resources and other program supplies can get quite expensive.
In fact, students’ success in a course is dependent upon having their textbooks even during the first week or two of class.
However, the Coastal Bend Community Foundation (CBCF) is making the challenge of accessing textbooks easier after presenting a $50,000 grant to the Del Mar College (DMC) Foundation on Wednesday, April 6.
Textbooks can be a major challenge for students; yet, these resources are so necessary to student success in college,. This incredible gift from the Coastal Bend Community Foundation for the newly established textbook lending program will support student learning from day one of classes. We are so grateful for the Foundation’s support of Del Mar College students.
The College is allocating $20,000 of the CBCF grant toward a new textbook lending program. The other $30,000 will be used through the DMC Foundation’s Student Emergency Aid Fund. The grant is provided through the CBCF’s John and Augusta Doan Charitable Advised Fund.
Kicking off this fall, the textbook lending program will assist DMC students with access to expensive specialized textbooks. The new program will be operated by the College’s Learning Resources Department and DMC Libraries.
An advisory committee already has been formed to determine the most popular and expensive textbooks that students need. The committee will determine how many books can be purchased over the summer for students’ use beginning fall 2022. The program will allow students to check out textbooks for the semester at no charge, and the investment will provide a compounding effect with each purchase assisting multiple students over time.
Among goals the College hopes to achieve through the textbook lending program is to lower students’ college expenses and their debt, increase student retention rates by increasing affordability, encourage them to enroll in more courses to complete their education and graduate earlier, provide equal access of instructional materials to all students by the first day of class each semester and to bridge the gap between the time classes start and when students receive financial aid later in the semester.
The DMC Foundation’s Student Emergency Aid Fund supports students dealing with a crisis ranging from the cost gas to childcare needs to other issues that just crop up unexpectedly. The CBCF grant gives this resource a $30,000 boost to assist students when they have nowhere else to turn for emergency funds.
Learn more about the DMC Foundation by visiting www.delmar.edu/foundation/index.html.
Coastal Bend Community Foundation is delighted to award this grant from the John and Augusta Doan Fund to Del Mar College Foundation for their Textbook Lending Program and Student Emergency Assistance Fund. It is because of the Doan family’s generosity that DMC will be able to continue supporting the needs of their students,.
The CBCF’s $50,000 grant is not the only time Del Mar College has received support from the organization through the John and Augusta Doan Charitable Advised Fund. In April 2021, the foundation awarded $50,000 to the DMC Student Emergency Aid Fund to assist students in financial crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the CBCF awarded $100,000 in September 2017 to assist students impacted by Hurricane Harvey.
About the Coastal Bend Community Foundation: The Coastal Bend Community Foundation was incorporated in 1981 with the mission of improving the quality of life in the seven counties of the Coastal Bend. The Foundation serves donors by providing a vehicle for the establishment of various types of charitable funds designed to fulfill their wishes. Since its inception, the Foundation has distributed over $149 million from donor contributions and revenues to scholarships to students and grants to nonprofit organizations. To learn more about the organization, visit their website at www.cbcfoundation.org/.
Del Mar College empowers students to achieve their dreams. We offer quality programs, individual attention, outstanding instruction through faculty with real-world experience and affordable costs to credit and noncredit students in Corpus Christi and the South Texas Coastal Bend area. Nationally recognized while locally focused, we’re ranked in the top two percent of community colleges in the country granting associate degrees to Hispanic students (Community College Week). Del Mar College focuses on offering our students programs that match current or emerging career opportunities. Whether students are interested in the fine arts, sciences, business, occupational or technical areas, students get the education they need for the future they want at Del Mar College.