FAIRFAX, VA – UNCF – the United Negro College Fund – the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization, received $250,000 from Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation (LCEF) to support UNCF’s Emergency Student Aid Campaign, an initiative to help thousands of recession-impacted students at UNCF’s 39-member historically black colleges and universities enroll for their senior year and receive their college degree.
“Lowe’s contribution to UNCF’s Emergency Student Aid Campaign is a lifeline to students whose college education is threatened by the recession,” said Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D., UNCF president and CEO. “The Emergency Student Aid Campaign is for the students. Thousands of students at UNCF member colleges have seen family contributions reduced or eliminated due to job loss and pay cuts. The credit crunch has squeezed private student loans off the market. Many of these students wouldn’t have been able to register this fall if Lowe’s hadn’t stepped up.”
While the Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation grant will reach all 39 UNCF-member institutions, the grant will primarily focus on assisting students at UNCF-member colleges in four states: North Carolina, Georgia, Louisiana and Virginia. Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation worked with UNCF to determine where it could provide the most impact to students who were in danger of not graduating due to a financial gap.
“Lowe’s commitment to improving communities begins by supporting organizations that give students the resources to become tomorrow’s employees, homeowners and community leaders,” said Larry Stone, chairman of Lowe’s Charitable and Educational Foundation. “By supporting organizations like UNCF, Lowe’s is contributing to a cause that is important to our customers and employees and invests in helping students achieve their fullest potential by completing their college degrees.”