The Bedford County Regional Education Foundation

Gifts to the Bedford County Regional Education Foundation

A gift to the Bedford County Regional Education Foundation supports your belief in the importance of providing local, high quality postsecondary education at an affordable cost, but also shows your commitment in making a real difference in the lives of students. Gifts given to the Bedford County Regional Education Foundation are used to support the students attending the Bedford County Campus of Allegany College of Maryland.

Recognizing that more than 80% of students are first in their families to attend college and over 60% of students come from low-income households, the Bedford County Regional Education Foundation determined that providing scholarships to students would be their primary goal. The Foundation has provided more than $190,000 to more than 700 students over the past 11 years.

The Foundation is committed to continuing the tradition of providing scholarships, tuition assistance, and emergency book funding to financially deserving students so they may reach their goals of obtaining a college education. In order to continue this in future years, the Foundation launched a $1 million Scholarship Endowment Campaign.

Since the “Give Our Students a Future…Today!” campaign was launched in April 2003, the Foundation has received more than $600,000 in commitments from businesses, individuals, and organizations who realize that higher education benefits students and the county as a whole. Even though 60% of the campaign goal has been committed, consistent increases in student enrollment necessitate the importance of reaching the $1,000,000 goal.

When the Bedford County Campus was founded in 1990, Bedford County ranked 64th out of 67 counties in the percentage of high school graduates pursuing postsecondary education. Today, Bedford County is ranked 34th. The presence of a local campus has encouraged many students to begin or continue their educational journeys. Since 1990, more than 6,500 people have taken classes through the Bedford County Campus.

The Foundation invites you to have an impact on the lives of students by making a contribution to the Bedford County Regional Education Foundation. If you are would like to make a gift to the Foundation, here are some options that you may wish to consider:

1. Scholarship Endowment Campaign

Gifts to the scholarship endowment campaign may be earmarked as endowment funds where the interest will be used to fund future tuition assistance awards or may be designated for current tuition assistance scholarships. The Foundation provides a total of $5,000 per semester to college students under the tuition assistance program. Through this program, students eligible for tuition assistance receive one-third of their tuition costs after state and federal grants have been subtracted.

2. Early College Tuition Assistance

High school juniors and seniors have the opportunity to participate in college classes either on-site at their high schools or at the college campus in Everett. Upon high school graduation the college credits transfer to many institutions of higher learning. Gifts given for this purpose assist the Foundation in providing the Early College courses to all interested high school students either tuition free or at a reduced cost. Businesses may select to give donations to the Bedford County Regional Education Foundation, an approved Educational Improvement Organization, through the PA Educational Improvement Tax Credit Program.

3. Establish Your Own Scholarship

You may elect to establish your own scholarship which may be made in a particular name and with specifically designated criteria. Scholarships in this manner may be set up to be annually funded by the donor or may be endowed by the donor. Typical scholarships range from $500 to $1000 per academic year.

New scholarships established through the Bedford County Campus include:

• John H. Jordan Memorial Scholarship
• Dr. Earl Shope Memorial Scholarship
• Everett Cash Mutual Insurance Group Scholarship
• Memorial Hospital of Bedford County Foundation Scholarship
• Clair V. Chaney Scholarship

4. Contribute to an Existing Fund

There is also an opportunity to direct your gift toward an existing endowed fund to help that fund grow. Our present list of endowed funds and the curricula they support are available in the Foundation Office.

5. Gifts to Support Campus Development

Individuals wishing to support the development of the academic facility, technology upgrades, or student resource areas may designate gifts for this purpose.

6. Planned Giving

There are a number of ways to make this type of gift. The following are but a few examples and do not comprise an all-inclusive listing:

• Gifts of securities


• Gifts of real estate


• Gifts of personal property


• Gifts of life insurance


• Life income gifts (charitable gift annuities, etc.)


• Bequests

If you would like more information about any of these gift-giving opportunities, then please call the Bedford County Regional Education Foundation at (814) 652-9528 extension 6223.

Checks should be made payable to: Bedford County Regional Education Foundation. Your gifts are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.