Miss Helen Yunker, member of the Ventura College Foundation Board of Directors, received the 2008 Benefactor of the Year Award for Region IX (California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawaii, Guam and the Pacific Island Territories) from the Council for Resource Development (CRD). Honored at a dinner and reception in Washington, D.C. on November 7, Miss Yunker was awarded this honor for embodying the ideals of philanthropy, leadership, and volunteerism in the service of a community college.
A long-time supporter of Ventura College, Ms. Yunker recently established an endowment to support the music program, the largest individual gift in the history of Ventura College. Norbert Tan, Executive Director of the Ventura College Foundation, said, “This recognition is well deserved – Helen Yunker has been a steadfast, active supporter of Ventura College for many years. She is such a strong believer in the role of the community college – she has endowed a number of scholarships for students and she attends the scholarship dinner each year so she can actually hand the gift to the recipient. Because of her generosity to the college, her name is on the auditorium in the theatre, and she attends virtually all the music, dance and theatre events that are held there. Helen always says that by helping and sharing with others, you multiply your own blessings many times over. She clearly lives her philosophy.”
CRD is the only professional organization concerned exclusively with fundraising for two-year colleges. Through education, advocacy and mentoring, CRD supports professionals and develops leaders engaged in community college resource development. An affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges, CRD serves more than 1,600 member colleges in the U.S., Canada, and abroad.
For additional information, call Alisa Moore at 805-654-6462 or Norbert Tan, Executive Director of the Ventura College Foundation at 805-654-6461. |
