Foundation Matters
Opportunity Changes Everything
They’re the best of the best. Twenty-three distinguished Miami Dade College graduates were inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame at a sold-out gala at Miami’s Jungle Island.
While the Hall of Fame celebrates the accomplishments of the College’s alumni, it is designed to do much more than that.
“It’s our singular, annual event to raise scholarship funds for our students,” said Glenn Kaufhold, executive director and CEO of the Miami Dade College Foundation. “This year, the community stood with us, even in these difficult economic times, to give our students the opportunity to achieve their educational dreams.”
MDC touches the lives of almost every Miami-Dade County resident. More students earn their associate degree here than at any other institution in Florida or the rest of the U.S. Additionally, the College reaches millions in the community through its many cultural offerings, workforce development and continuing education programs, and community health fairs.
Scholarships are the lifeblood of educational dreams, and there are few investments producing a rate of return that matches the impact of investing in students.
While this year’s Alumni Hall of Fame event raised nearly $700,000 (including state matching funds), support from other sources has increased dramatically, said Dr. Penny Shaffer, chair of the MDC Foundation Board of Directors.
AT&T, a sponsor of the Alumni Hall of Fame for three years, increased its involvement with the College by creating a generous scholarship endowment. Another friend of MDC, the Latin Builders Association, also established an endowed scholarship.
Responsive, yet innovative, MDC is committed to meeting the changing needs of regional industry. Shifts in economic and social dynamics require the College to constantly review its academic programs to respond adequately to community demands.
The Council on Physician and Nurse Supply (CPNS), a national, independent multi-disciplinary organization of health care professionals, has predicted the U.S. may lack as many as 200,000 physicians and 800,000 nurses by the year 2020.
As populations continue to grow and practicing doctors approach retirement, the country’s academic institutions are expected to address this challenge.
Last year, the College launched a Bachelor of Science in Nursing program to address this critical need. The Florman Family Foundation made a significant gift to help launch the program. The Wolfson family, longtime MDC supporters, continued its unwavering support with an announcement of one of the single largest gifts ever made to MDC, an $11 million gift from the Mitchell Wolfson Sr. Foundation to support the School of Nursing.
MDC also established the Foreign Physician Alternative Certification Program (FOPAC), which provides orientation, assistance and training to foreign health care professionals living in the U.S. In just one year, the program served more than 500 individuals.
FOPAC is supported by the Department of Children and Families’ Office of Refugee Services, Florida Legislative Allocation, and BlueCross and BlueShield of Florida. “This is a tremendous opportunity, not just in South Florida, to identify and retrain foreign physicians and health care professionals to deliver benefits to our residents,” said Shaffer, who is also the market president for BlueCross and BlueShield of Florida.
At a recent meeting of the MDC District Board of Trustees, Shaffer presented a generous donation on behalf of BlueCross and BlueShield of Florida to help further the program’s success.
— Lourdes C. Balepogi