Bow Valley College reached a major milestone in their Open Doors – Open Minds funding campaign on Nov. 29, unveiling that through private donors the college has raised more than $25 million of a $35 million goal to create an endowment fund for student use.
The college opened the fundraising to the public on Wednesday, with the goal of raising a final $9 million dollars over the next three years in order to distribute $2 million per year to attendees at the college in the form of bursaries and scholarships.
The funding, when complete, will allow the number of disbursements of funding to students by nearly double, to more than 2,000 students per year.
Mike Shaikh, campaign chair for the fundraising campaign, issued a challenge to the Calgary community to complete the endowment in just one.
“Education is our pathway to a brighter future. Trust me, there is no other sector that is more responsible for shaping an entire generation than education,” he said.
Shaikh pointed to a number of reasons why he chose to take on the goal of being the chair of the Open Doors – Open Minds campaign, chief among them was the need to assist the people who were most likely to get an education at Bow Valley College.
The college itself primarily has served women, with nearly 70 per cent of attendees identifying as women, and people from immigrant and Indigenous communities.
“We are committed to making education affordable, attainable, and a reality for all students, no matter your age, background or financial situation,” said Dr. Misheck Mwaba, President and CEO of Bow Valley College.
“Because as you heard from Her Honour, despite the fact that Idi Amin wanted to take everything, that was one thing he was not able to take was education. It is really an equalizer.”
The milestone announcement was attended by the Honourable Salma Lakhani, Lieutenant Governor of Alberta, who shared her story of having everything taken from her and her family when they were forced to leave Uganda by then-dictator Idi Amin in the 1970s.
In her speech, she said that the only thing she was able to keep from her home in Uganda was her education.
Interested Calgarians can make a tax-deductible donation to the Open Doors – Open Minds campaign at inspire.bowvalleycollege.ca.
