AEP Foundation gift puts Clay Center over its $5 million endowment goal for 2009-10
Release Date:
7/30/2010 11:00:00 AM
Dateline (city):
Charleston, W.Va.
Contact:
Katrina Harmon
304-561-3543
AEP Foundation gift puts Clay Center over its $5 million endowment goal for 2009-10
(Charleston, W.Va.) 6/30/10 –A large donation and matching challenge from the American Electric Power Foundation has allowed the Clay Center for the Arts and Sciences of West Virginia to reach its annual goal of raising $5 million toward an endowment that when fully funded will allow every West Virginia school to send its children to the Center without charge. Clay Center officials made the announcement at its annual board meeting earlier today.
The American Electric Foundation made an outright gift of $250,000 in July 2009, and as important to the fundraising efforts, it also issued a challenge grant: raise $250,000 and receive another $250,000 from the Foundation. Volunteers and staff recently met that challenge, pushing over the $5 million mark along the way.
“This generous AEP Foundation gift truly has kept on giving,” said Judy Wellington, Clay Center president and CEO. “The initial donation significantly enhanced our endowment, and the challenge really kicked our fund raising efforts into high gear. We’re so thankful to the AEP Foundation for its commitment to music, arts and sciences in West Virginia, and most importantly to our state’s children who so benefit from the programs offered.”
In addition to covering admission for school children, the endowment fund is intended to provide broad access to programming in the performing and visual arts and sciences.
“We’re thrilled about meeting our endowment goal this fiscal year and know that it would not have been possible without the help of the American Electric Power Foundation,” said Lloyd Jackson, secretary of the Clay Center Board and chair of the Endowment Subcommittee. “Their generous gift and exciting challenge provided us with momentum and gave a compelling incentive for others to give to the endowment. It was exactly what we needed to move our fundraising efforts forward in these challenging economic times.”
Welllington also announced that the Center exceeded its 2009-2010 income goals and will be ending the fiscal year ahead of expectations.
For information about contributing to the Clay Center’s endowment, contact Kathy Bush-Morris, chief development officer, at 304-561.3588 or kbush@theclaycenter.org.