Volunteer State College Foundation

The Robert and Lucy White Hudgins Memorial Scholarship was established by Bill Hudgins to provide tuition for a female Health Sciences or Nursing major at Volunteer State Community College.  This year’s recipient is LaTisha Hill of Gallatin. LaTisha is enrolled in the inaugural class of nursing students at Vol State in Gallatin. Pictured left to right: Karen Mitchell, vice president for Resource Development; LaTisha Hill; and Bill Hudgins, scholarship donor. The Volunteer State College Foundation awards thousands of dollars in scholarships each year.

College student food insecurity has been identified as a major problem in the United States. A 2019 Temple University report said that 48 percent of community college students nationwide are food insecure. That means they lack reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable food. For #GivingTuesday, December 3, the Volunteer State College Foundation is raising funds to support the Vol State Feed student food bank.

The Volunteer State Community College Foundation raised $36,500 recently with its Complete the Dream dinner, celebrating 30 years of College Foundation service to the community. More than 200 people attended the dinner at the Epic Event Centre in Gallatin. This year’s event spotlighted the importance of Health Sciences scholarships and the equipment used in the new Vol State Nursing program. The funds raised will be used to support the Nursing program and student scholarships in Health Sciences.

The Volunteer State Community College Foundation is celebrating 30 years of service to the community with a special event on September 12. Complete the Dream will feature wine and bourbon tasting, dinner, and comedy by Rik Roberts. In 30 years the Foundation has raised approximately $16,555,863 and awarded approximately $6,350,032 in student scholarships. The other funds were used for capital projects that included new buildings, new campuses, renovations of older facilities, and many other projects that directly help Vol State students.

The First Horizon Foundation recently made a $5000 donation to the Volunteer State College Foundation.

The 2019 Educate a Woman luncheon raised more than $37,000 to support scholarships for women at Volunteer State Community College. Best-selling author and syndicated columnist, Ronda Rich, was the featured presenter for the sold-out event. Four hundred people attended. A highlight of the luncheon was an emotional video testimonial from student Anedra Moore, who has overcome many challenges to attend college and received scholarship support that is helping make her dream come true.

The Friends of SRMC (Sumner Regional Medical Center) has awarded its 2018-2019 scholarship for Health Sciences majors at Volunteer State Community College. Since 2010, twelve students have received over $41,000 from the annual scholarship.  Pictured, left to right, are Karen Mitchell, executive director for the Volunteer State College Foundation; Amanda Talbot, the 2018-2019 scholarship recipient; Loretta Visser, president of the Friends of SRMC Board; and Lori Johnson, director of Volunteer Services for SRMC.

The Volunteer State Community College Distinguished Alumnus Award was presented recently to a former Trustee who has remained active and involved with the Volunteer State College Foundation. Hendersonville businessman Bill Sinks has donated to the Foundation for 15 years and worked on many fundraising campaigns.

Tom and Betty Neal of Gallatin were recently awarded the Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy. The award honors those who have made great and lasting contributions to the state’s colleges and universities. The couple began funding a scholarship at Volunteer State Community College in 2000. They were involved with special fundraising events, such as the Harvest Moon Soiree and Educate a Woman luncheon. Along with being active supporters of Vol State, Mr. and Mrs.