Duke Energy donates to FDTC in support of healthcare program
Mindy Taylor, left, presents a check to President Ben Dillard, FDTC Foundation Director Jill Lewis, Suresh Tiwari, Vice President, Academic & Student Affairs and Maureen Dever-Bumba, Associate Vice President of Health Sciences. Photo by Melissa Rollins
By Melissa Rollins, Editor, editor@newsandpress.net
Duke Energy made a substantial contribution to the future of education at Florence-Darlington Technical College July 14. Mindy Taylor, Government and Community Relations Manager for Duke Energy, presented the check to FDTC President Ben Dillard and several other college administrators.
“The Duke Energy Foundation invests in the community and by partnering with the Florence-Darlington Technical College, with the ReBoost program, we are meeting a workforce development need,” Taylor said. “We don’t feel like we are giving away money; we feel like we are making an investment in the future of our communities.”
Taylor said that those investments benefit many different areas of need in the community at large.
“We feel like it is important to support the communities that we are involved in,” Taylor said. “That’s why we support education initiatives, environmental initiatives, as well as workforce development initiatives.”
The ReBoost Program was chosen for the donation because of the explosion in need for employees in that field.
“In the healthcare industry, there is a significant need for these employees,” Taylor said. “(With this program) these employees can be trained very quickly and they can earn stackable certificates. Florence-Darlington Technical College has met a need in the community. Duke Energy is always looking for ways to invest in the community and be a partner with organizations such as Florence-Darlington Technical College.”
Maureen Dever-Bumba, Associate Vice President of Health Sciences at Florence-Darlington Technical College, said that this money will help students get the education they need and then get them in to the field.
“The program is a Florence-Darlington Tech program for high school graduates,” Bumba said. “We have three stackable certificates starting with the basic Certified Nursing Assistant. Each of those adds to their salaries and adds to the type of job that they are able to get. It is a huge, huge benefit.”
This grant from the Duke Energy Foundation will assist low-income students in the program who have exhausted all other forms of financial aid in paying for textbooks, curricular aides, uniforms and other fees.