Oregon Institute of Technology (OIT) was awarded a $1 million grant this week by the Kresge Foundation to fund the final stage of construction of the Martha Anne Dow Center for Health Professions (CHP) at the Klamath Falls, Oregon Campus.
OIT began its largest capital campaign to fund the Martha Anne Dow Center for Health Professions in 2002. Construction of Wing II began in the fall of 2007. The total construction project was $38.5 million.
In order to secure the $1 million Kresge Foundation Challenge Grant, OIT needed to raise $2.4 million by August 31, 2010.
“Our Development team worked diligently and brought in close to a million dollars in six months for the CHP funding,” commented Christopher Maples, OIT President. “That’s no easy task these days. We received generous donations from individuals, businesses, foundations, and organizations. Members of the Oregon Tech Foundation and the OIT President’s Advisory Council encouraged the community to help complete the campaign. This really was a community effort.”
In August, an anonymous donor pledged to make up the delta in what was needed to qualify for the Kresge Foundation Challenge Grant.
“OIT is grateful to everyone who donated to the CHP fund. We are particularly appreciative that a donor who wishes to remain anonymous stepped forward in our hour of need,” said Robin Thompson, Vice President for OIT Development and Alumni Relations. “The CHP is a high-tech, state-of-the-art, green facility that houses OIT’s progressive allied-health programs. It provides tools and resources to keep students at the forefront of leading-edge technologies and uniquely positions OIT to meet our country’s growing demand for health-care professionals. This is an important facility for our campus and the training ground for much-needed professionals in this country. We are thrilled that so many individuals recognize the importance of the CHP.”
The Kresge Foundation is a national, private foundation that seeks to influence the quality of life for future generations by creating access and opportunity in underserved communities, improving the health of low-income people, supporting artistic expression, assisting in the revitalization of centers of commerce throughout the United States, and advancing methods for dealing with global climate change.
The Kresge Foundation supports nonprofit organizations in six fields of interest: health, the environment, community development, arts and culture, education and human services. In 1924, Sebastian Spering Kresge established the foundation that bears his name for the “promotion of human progress.”
To learn more about the Martha Anne Dow Center for Health Professions campaign and Oregon Institute of Technology, visit OIT's website at www.oit.edu or contact the Oregon Institute of Technology Office of Development at 541-851-5679.
