{"id":241,"date":"2025-03-08T15:11:00","date_gmt":"2025-03-08T15:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/2025\/03\/08\/austin-community-colleges-receives-250k-donation-to-support\/"},"modified":"2025-04-02T19:21:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-02T19:21:38","slug":"austin-community-colleges-receives-250k-donation-to-support","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/2025\/03\/08\/austin-community-colleges-receives-250k-donation-to-support\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin Community Colleges receives $250K donation to support &#8230;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>## Big News: A Generous Gift Changes Lives at Austin Community College!<\/p>\n<p>Hey there, amazing community! \ud83c\udf1f I&#8217;ve got some truly heartwarming news to share that&#8217;s all about kindness and making a difference in the lives of students at Austin Community College (ACC).<\/p>\n<p>Jimmy and Cindi Ferguson are two very caring people who have decided to give a HUGE gift of $250,000! \ud83d\ude0a With their donation, they&#8217;re helping young learners in two super important ways: scholarships and food security.<\/p>\n<p>### Scholarships to Shine!<\/p>\n<p>First off, let&#8217;s talk about scholarships. Imagine your favorite hero who swoops in just in time! \ud83e\uddb8\u200d\u2642\ufe0f\ud83e\uddb8\u200d\u2640\ufe0f The Fergusons are like heroes for ACC students because they&#8217;re giving $150,000 to set up something very special called the Ferguson Family McDonald\u2019s Endowed Scholarship. Scholarships are like golden tickets \ud83c\udfab for students who are really smart and want to learn but need a little help to pay for school. \ud83c\udfeb<\/p>\n<p>### Helping Hands at the Food Pantry<\/p>\n<p>But wait, there\u2019s more good news! They\u2019re also helping feed students with another $80,000 going to the Elgin Campus Student Life Food Pantry. \ud83c\udf4e This pantry is a place where students can go to get food if they need it. Plus, the Fergusons are adding an extra $20,000 to make sure the pantry can keep helping students for the next two years! \ud83e\udd6b\ud83e\udd6a Imagine how much that means to somebody who\u2019s really hungry.<\/p>\n<p>### Why This Gift is HUGE<\/p>\n<p>You might wonder why this is so important. Well, a recent survey tells us that 60% of ACC students don\u2019t have a lot of money, and almost half, 48%, don\u2019t always know where their next meal is coming from! \ud83d\ude1e That&#8217;s a lot of tummy rumbles. Dr. Russell Lowery-Hart, who helps run the college, says this gift helps students focus on school without worrying so much about food or money. \ud83c\udf93\ud83d\udcaa<\/p>\n<p>### A Thank You to the Fergusons<\/p>\n<p>To show how thankful everyone is, ACC will name two special spots at its Elgin Campus after the Fergusons: the Ferguson Student Services Suite and the Ferguson Family Student Life Food Pantry. \ud83c\udfe2\ud83c\udfc6 Isn\u2019t it awesome how doing something good for others can lead to something so great?<\/p>\n<p>### How You Can Help<\/p>\n<p>Every bit of kindness counts, and you can be a hero too! Whether by telling others about this amazing news or finding ways to help in your own community, every little bit makes the world a better place. \ud83c\udf0d\u2764\ufe0f<\/p>\n<p>If you want to read more about this amazing gift and how it&#8217;s helping students, check out this [link](https:\/\/communityimpact.com\/austin\/bastrop-cedar-creek\/education\/2025\/03\/06\/austin-community-colleges-receives-250k-donation-to-support-scholarships-food-pantry-at-elgin-campus\/).<\/p>\n<p>To those who can, consider supporting other students who need a little extra help to succeed. \ud83e\udd1d Helping others can change the world, one act of kindness at a time. \ud83d\udc96<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019d like to donate and help out too, [click here](https:\/\/communityimpact.com\/austin\/bastrop-cedar-creek\/education\/2025\/03\/06\/austin-community-colleges-receives-250k-donation-to-support-scholarships-food-pantry-at-elgin-campus\/). Every bit makes a difference. Thank you so much for being amazing! \ud83c\udf08\ud83d\ude0a<\/p>\n<p>#ACC #FoodSecurity #Scholarships #CommunityImpact #Gratitude #DonationOpportunity<br \/>\n\u200b<br \/>\nPlease Donate now so we can help our children and elderly. Any amount no matter how small once only or if you can, on a monthly basis. So many children will be so grateful for you!<br \/>\n<b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.buddyoutreach.org\/?form=FUNXRGPFDKF\">Donate here! <\/a><\/b><br \/>\n\u200b<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>## Big News: A Generous Gift Changes Lives at Austin Community College! Hey there, amazing community! \ud83c\udf1f I&#8217;ve got some truly heartwarming news to share that&#8217;s all about kindness and making a difference in the lives of students at Austin Community College (ACC). Jimmy and Cindi Ferguson are two very caring people who have decided [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":370,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=241"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":436,"href":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/241\/revisions\/436"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buddyoutreach.org\/latestnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}