Eddie and Kathy Hale, of Pulaski County, have received the 13th Annual Chancellor’s Award for Leadership in Philanthropy. They were nominated for the award by New River Community College.
More than two-dozen individuals, families, and businesses from around Virginia have earned the 2018 Chancellor’s Award for Leadership in Philanthropy.
The awards were presented at a luncheon ceremony in Richmond on Tuesday, April 17.
Hosted by the Virginia Foundation for Community College Education (VFCCE), the 13th annual event honors leading philanthropists from each of Virginia’s 23 community colleges as well as the statewide foundation.
This year’s class of distinguished philanthropy leaders has contributed a combined total of $6 million dollars to Virginia’s Community Colleges.
“Kathy and Eddie Hale have made significant contributions to New River Community College since the mid-eighties. They established the Martin’s Pharmacy Scholarship and were instrumental in funding the Bill Hale Memorial Scholarship as well as their most recent scholarship in honor of Dr. Charlie White, among others,” said Dr. Pat Huber, president of New River Community College. “They have also provided support for Great Expectations, Student Success and other college needs. Eddie has served on the NRCC’s Foundation board for two different terms. In addition to that role, he is especially proud of being a graduate of NRCC. And we at NRCC are very proud to know Kathy and Eddie as our friends.”
Keynote speaker Paul Koonce, executive vice president and president and chief executive officer with the Power Generation Group, Dominion Energy, called the community college system “one of Virginia’s greatest inventions.” He also borrowed a passage from a 1903 Teddy Roosevelt speech to underscore the invaluable connection between higher education and opportunity.
“’Far and away, the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. Our purpose (as donors) is to make sure that prize – meaningful work – the best prize that life offers, remains within reach of every Virginian.’”
