TRCC creates new trust for endowments

The Three Rivers Endowment Trust, a new not-for-profit organization, has been established to channel charitable donations in the form of funds and property, both large and small, to Three Rivers Community College.

Incorporated in December, college trustees added the Endowment Trust to Three Rivers' current insurance policy in April, and an identification number from the Internal Revenue Service is anticipated to be received next month.

Fifteen working and retired business owners, doctors, lawyers, a government employee and a pastor, out of a maximum of 21 people throughout Three Rivers' service area, have been appointed for three-year terms as governing members of the Endowment Trust, which includes a sitting trustee as well as the president of the college.

"I don't see that representation as any type of political issue," said Three Rivers president Dr. Devin Stephenson. "No one knows more about the vision of the college than the president, so I certainly think having a voice in the direction of the group is a wonderful thing."

The first order of business for the Endowment Trust was submitting a bid for operation of the Poplar Bluff License Bureau in hopes of creating a continuous stream of revenue while funding is tight, Stephenson explained.

Equating to $10,000 in proceeds from tickets, the inaugural fundraising dinner sponsored by the Endowment Trust has already sold out. Scheduled for Friday, it features guest Chris Singleton, an ESPN correspondent and former major league baseball player, who will serve as the keynote speaker later that evening during commencement.

"We purposely put together a group of community leaders with different backgrounds to have a greater chance to reach out and find more resources that will help the students, because a strong community college makes for a strong community," explained board treasurer Marty Michel, who is a Poplar Bluff pharmacist. "Everybody with the Endowment Trust is 100 percent giving toward the college, and there are no paid positions associated with it at all."

Besides providing entrepreneurial opportunities for the community college, the Endowment Trust helps make Three Rivers a "worthwhile" place for education advocates to invest in or leave property to, said to board member Richard Brumitt, who owns a sporting goods store in Doniphan.

"It's not autocratic leadership, this is a group of creative, energetic and innovative professionals who are thinking and working together, each charged with the same common goal: to benefit this institution," Stephenson said. "We've been building this airplane while it's in flight and we're still in the embryonic stage of development, but we've been meeting once a month, sometimes even more often, to lay the groundwork."

One of the joys of his experience working for Three Rivers, the president said, has been the generosity of people that have approached him about donations. Stephenson will be announcing a string of gifts and partnerships with the Endowment Trust in the near future, beginning Wednesday in Sikeston, he noted.

"Three Rivers is trying to enhance its exposure in communities where it already has a presence," said board member R. Scott Matthews, who owns a development company in Sikeston, along with a farming operation in New Madrid County. "I am quite flattered to be a part of it, and look forward to them becoming an increasing force in education for kids here."

Other directors of the Endowment Trust are: chairman Dr. E.T. Hansbrough, secretary Dr. Ken McVey, plus members Steve Boyers, Allan Brooks, Doug Libla, Danny Moore, Bill Swafford, Marion Tibbs, Dr. Ronnie Webb and Chris Williams, all of Poplar Bluff; and Mike Hackworth of Piedmont.