HILLSBORO, Kan. – Tabor College’s Signature Campaign received a major boost to its fundraising efforts with confirmation that the J.E. and L.E. Mabee Foundation in Tulsa, Okla., will donate a $1 million gift to the school for the Center for the Arts. Nearly 1,000 donors have contributed the $8 million needed in order for the Mabee Foundation to donate this gift.
The announcement came during Sunday night’s performance of the Messiah.
“It’s the generosity of so many people, their sacrifices and the commitment of so many that this is becoming a reality,” Jules Glanzer, president of Tabor College, said to a full audience at the Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church, who responded with thunderous applause.
“In two years, you’ll be hearing the Messiah in the new Shari Flaming Center for the Arts,” Glanzer added.
This $1 million gift will allow the Center for the Arts project to move forward much more quickly than originally expected.
“We are planning, tentatively, to break ground in May 2015 with completion in August 2016,” Glanzer added.
To date, Tabor alumni and friends have generously donated $12.8 million of the $16.2 million total of the Signature Campaign goal.
“We are so pleased that so many people have contributed to this campaign and to the future of Tabor College,” Ron Braun, vice president of advancement, said. “We will be able to serve a need for our students and our community that has never been met.”
With this phase of the campaign finished, there is still $3.4 million needed –for enhancements, endowment for the new facility and the annual fund –to meet the needs of the college.
“There is still a lot of work to be done,” Braun added. “We are up to the challenge knowing that the majority of this campaign is behind us.”
The Signature Campaign—the largest fundraising project in the history of the college—will shape the lives of current and future students, for generations to come.
“The Signature Campaign is an ARTS campaign,” Glanzer added. “In addition to building a Center for the Arts, we also are committed to Attracting students, Retaining students, Transforming students and Sending students into God’s world. The Signature Campaign will help make this happen.”