July and August gifts to WMU total $3.8 million
Sept. 23, 2002
KALAMAZOO -- Western Michigan University reported $3.8 million in gifts received in July and August to begin the University's 2002-03 fiscal year.
The two-month total exceeds the amount received for the same period one year ago by nearly $1.8 million. Each of the past three years has culminated in a new record total of gifts received.
According to a report presented to the WMU Board of Trustees at its Sept. 20 meeting, WMU received $3,821,324 in gifts during July and August, the first two months of the 2002-03 fiscal year. That exceeds the amount received for the same two months of 2001 by $1,796,557.
All gifts to the University are received through the WMU Foundation or the Paper Technology Foundation, which supports the internationally known paper programs at WMU. For the first two months of the 2002-03 fiscal year, the WMU Foundation reported current and deferred cash gifts totaling $2,597,892 and non-cash gifts valued at $847,642, for a total of $3,445,534. The Paper Technology Foundation reported cash gifts totaling $127,290 and non-cash gifts valued at $248,500, for a total of $375,790.
Among the larger gifts received since the last report to the trustees, in May, was an anonymous contribution of $117,000 given to the University's Unrestricted Fund. Gifts of $14,000 to WMUK FM and $11,650 to support the Plaza Arts Circle were also made anonymously.
The Procter & Gamble Fund contributed $125,000 to support the Technical Enhancement of Paper Products Project in the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
Four companies and foundations contributed a total of more than $100,000 in program and scholarship support for the Food Marketing Program in the Haworth College of Business. The Kellogg Co. contributed $61,000, the Georgia-Pacific Foundation and Wal-Mart Foundation each gave $15,000 and the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company contributed $10,000.
Target Stores made a contribution of $15,000 to support the 2002-03 season of the Buster Bronco Family Series of programs at Miller Auditorium.
The Department of Dance received $100,000 for the Jean Warner LaBelle Fund from the estate of LaBelle, who died Feb. 6. The fund will be used to provide scholarships for dance majors. A resident of Grand Rapids, Mich., LaBelle earned a two-year teaching certificate in 1928 and a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1936, both from WMU.
Mrs. Peggy Sorensen of Kalamazoo contributed a total of $40,000 to support the men's tennis program. The total includes $38,500 given to the Hap Sorensen Endowment Fund, in honor of her late husband and former men's tennis coach for whom the tennis courts at WMU are named.
A gift of $25,000 was received from Mr. and Mrs. John and Helen Wattles of Kalamazoo for the University's Unrestricted Fund. The Wattles are both graduates of WMU. Jack Wattles is a past director of both the WMU Foundation and the WMU Alumni Association.
The University's Unrestricted Fund also received a $25,000 distribution from the estate of Dr. H. Lewis Batts Jr. of Kalamazoo, founder of the Kalamazoo Nature Center, who died Oct. 9, 2001.
Media contact: Thom Myers, 269 387-8400, thomas.myers@wmich.edu