Roundhouse grants invest in success

Local foundation invests in COCC students, boosts tech at Madras campus

With community access and student support as their paired objectives, two recently awarded grants from The Roundhouse Foundation to Central Oregon Community College (COCC), totaling more than $26,000, will help cover non-tuition program costs for many career and technical students as well as invest dollars in the technology infrastructure of the college’s Madras campus.

The funding from the Sisters-based organization will invest in two key areas. A $10,000 award will cover the purchase of non-tuition program costs in certain disciplines, such as stethoscopes for students in the veterinary technician program and toolsets for automotive technology trainees. Dollars will directly impact an estimated 114 students in career and technical and science disciplines.

The second grant, at just over $16,000, will improve community connectivity and help remove educational barriers in Jefferson County. Funding will augment existing videoconferencing hardware, laptops and other tech at the college’s Madras campus, a place that serves as an important learning hub for both enrolled students and general community members alike.

“Our trustees are committed to collaborating with community partners and other organizations to help ensure long-term success and sustainability,” said Erin Borla, executive director of The Roundhouse Foundation. “These two grants to Central Oregon Community College do just that by investing in a mix of student aid and infrastructure needs.”

Zak Boone, COCC’s chief advancement officer and executive director of the college’s Foundation, points to the local partnership aspect as an added significance to the grants. “We are thrilled to be partnering with The Roundhouse Foundation,” he said. “It demonstrates how involved our community is with supporting student success at COCC.”

A private foundation, The Roundhouse Foundation began as a collaboration between founder Kathy Deggendorfer and her mother, Gert Boyle, in 2002. It has since distributed over $4 million to more than 100 different organizations, throughout Central and rural Oregon.

For more information, contact Zak Boone, COCC’s chief advancement officer and executive director of the COCC Foundation, at zboone@cocc.edu or 541-383-7212.

Image: COCC's Madras campus.