Founded in 1969, the Sandhills Community College Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation whose purpose is to promote the mission of Sandhills Community College in the community and seek financial support from the community. The Foundation ensures that donated funds are invested wisely and disbursed in ways that contribute to the ongoing excellence of Sandhills Community College. The SCC Foundation was the first community college foundation in North Carolina.
Since 1963, when Mrs. Mary Luman Meyer gave the gift of 250 acres of land on Airport Road in Southern Pines which created Sandhills Community College, the college has been blessed and enriched by the private support of its students, programs, facilities and capital needs.
When the Sandhills Motoring Festival first began, it began as a grass roots movement to host a semi-formal car show to fill the car show void in the Sandhills area. From the beginning, one of our goals was to contribute charitable donations and Sandhills Community College was selected as our primary benefactor due to their excellent Automotive Program. The goal of the donation was to assist students – the up and coming generation of automotive technicians and enthusiasts – in their studies and education goals. In 2018 and 2019, we raised funds through SMF to donate to the Sandhills Community College Foundation directly.
After speaking with the Department Chairs in the Automotive Curriculum about their needs, we decided to create an endowment fund that would begin in 2021 and would be funded year after year in perpetuity. This allows our funds to be provided directly to those Automotive students in need. The SMF Endowment allows us to provide direct scholarships to first- and second-year students each semester for their tuition, books, and other fees incurred during their course of study.
As of 2023, with proceeds and donations from our 2021 and 2022 events, our endowment is in excess of $30,000! This will be added to again in 2023 and into the future. We would like to thank all of our sponsors, private donors, and our other contributors to this endowment. It takes a community and team effort to put this show on year after year and we appreciate you! Your support makes our endowment a reality and strengthens the hopes and dreams of promising young automotive technicians. We thank you.
The Sandhills Motoring Festival was pleased to announce that our 2021 Memorial Day Weekend event raised over $20,000 for the start of the endowment
Pictured from L to R: Germain Elkins and Jennifer Dail, SCC Foundation; Marvin Waters, SMF President; Chris Smith, SMF Vice President; Dr. John Dempsey, Sandhills Community College President. Photo courtesy of Collin Blank, Pinehurst CVB
For 2019, SMF donated over $7,700 to the SCC Foundation and Automotive Technologies Program.
From L to R: Chris Smith, John MacIntyre, Marvin Waters, Germaine Elkins, Jennifer Dail, Larry Wolff, Bill Faison, Steve Redwine
Photo Courtesy of David Sinclair, The Pilot
