Bladen We Care establishes scholarship at UNCP

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In a ceremony on August 28, a Bladen County community foundation established a scholarship endowment in nursing at UNC Pembroke.

The Bladen We Care Endowed Scholarship totaling $10,000 was dedicated to Anne Cecile Nye, the long-time secretary-treasurer for the 25-year-old foundation. The scholarship will go to a Bladen Community College (BCC) graduate who is enrolled in UNCP’s Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

 

Mac Campbell, an Elizabethtown businessman and a Bladen We Care founder, said the organization has also established a nursing scholarship at BCC in the associate degree nursing program.

“Bladen We Care has disbursed $1.2 million to more than 2,000 families and businesses to support our community,” Campbell said. “When we started this organization, we could never have guessed that it would be able give so much help to so many Bladen County residents.

“This scholarship comes with high expectations for an outstanding student who wants to get a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree,” he said. “The BSN is the future of nursing now.”

The scholarship will be awarded immediately because the foundation contributed an additional $2,500 above the endowment amount. It typically takes two years for an endowment to generate enough income to be awarded.

BCC President Dr. William Findt welcomed “our good friends from UNCP.”

“This scholarship helps our students at Bladen Community College and healthcare in Bladen County,” he said. “We feel very close to UNCP; our students want to go to UNCP not only because of convenience, but because of its high quality programs.”

This fall, BCC enrolled 20 students in its associate degree nursing program and an additional 30 students in the practical nursing program,” Dr. Findt said. UNCP has two nursing programs, a four-year licensure program and the RN-to-BSN program, for which the Bladen We Care Scholarship was established.

Wendy Lowery, vice chancellor for UNCP’s Office of Advancement, thanked Bladen We Care and Mac Campbell.

“Today is a prime example of how collaboration helps our students and our communities,” Lowery said. “The Campbells have been such strong supporters of UNCP and Bladen Community College. We truly appreciate their support.”

Campbell is a 1968 UNCP graduate and owner of Campbell Oil and Gas Company with convenience stores across eastern North Carolina. In 2006, UNCP’s Wellness Center was dedicated to Campbell and his wife, Sylvia, who is mayor of Elizabethtown.

A recent visit to UNCP’s new Health Sciences Building to tour the Nursing Department impressed him with the quality of the program and facility.

“The new Health Sciences building is unbelievable,” Campbell said. “The technology with the simulated patients that are controlled by computers is second to none.”

Campbell is a former UNCP trustee and Braves Club president. In 2008, he was the recipient of UNCP’s Outstanding Alumni Award. A supporter of intercollegiate athletics at UNCP and NC State University, he was named Volunteer of the Year by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics in 2001.

To learn more about the Anne C. Nye Bladen We Care Endowed Scholarship, please contact UNCP’s Office of Advancement at 910.521.6252 or email advancement@uncp.edu.