J. Kenneth and Mary H. McDonald of Martinsburg have created an endowment fund to benefit the West Virginia University Jackson’s MillCenter for Lifelong Learning near Weston. Their $10,000 gift was made in conjunction with the Building Greatness Campaign: West VirginiaUniversity, a $250 million fund-raising effort the WVU Foundation is conducting on behalf of the University.
Income from the J. Kenneth and Mary H. McDonald Endowment will be used for renovating the cottages at WVU Jackson’s Mill, home of the state 4-H camp.
“The McDonalds, who were 4-H leaders for 28 years, wanted their gift to support something that would benefit 4-H’ers from across the state,”commented Larry Cote, WVU associate provost for Extension and Public Service.
The Extension Service operates the Mill as a special-mission campus, which attracts thousands of youth and adult learners each year. A major portion of the funds Extension raises through the Building Greatness Campaign will be used to renovate the facility’s 13 cottages and make them more accessible to the disabled.
Extension’s Building Greatness Campaign has now surpassed the $1.9 million mark, or 77 percent of its $2.5 million goal. The WVU Foundation’s overall campaign, which ends Dec. 31, 2003, has received total gifts and pledges of $225.8 million.
The WVU Foundation, a private nonprofit organization, is the designated agency to receive and administer gifts from private individuals and organizations for the benefit of WVU and its affiliated organizations. The Foundation places endowed funds into a professionally managed long-term investment portfolio. Approximately 5 percent of a fund’s market value is available each year to support a fund’s designated purpose.