Random Acts of Kindness Fund helps single moms
Three single mothers are now Central Lakes College graduates, thanks to the CLC Foundation's Random Acts of Kindness Fund. The scholarship fund, established in 2005, is designed to provide a safety net for students' crisis situations.
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Last year the CLC Foundation made 126 awards worth $31,500 through the Random Acts of Kindness Fund. The fund has been supported with gifts from the Holden family, Bremer Foundation, Brainerd Lakes Community Foundation and individual donors.
Heidi Wille of rural Motley, an honors graduate at Central Lakes College in May, benefited from a scholarship fund that is expected to be replenished at this weekend's fundraiser at Grand View Lodge.
The biggest CLC fundraiser to sustain this fund and other scholarships is the two-day event on Friday Saturday. On two separate days there will be a silent auction, dinner and concert in the Gull Lake Center at Grand View Lodge in Nisswa. The events will feature Irish music and dance by the international ensemble, The Hunt Family. On both days the social/silent auction begins at 5:30 p.m., followed by a dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the concert at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are available at www.clctickets.com or more information may be obtained by calling 855-8135.
Lisa Paulbeck of Aitkin was able to continue her studies and raise her children, Jenna, 13, and Hannah, 8, thanks to a Central Lakes College Foundation scholarship.
The three single mothers who were helped by the Random Acts of Kindness Funds, all graduates now, are Lisa Paulbeck, Heidi Wille, and Darla Myers.
"The college's enrollment growth brings with it a greater need for assistance," said Larry Lundblad, president of CLC, who pointed out that about 70 percent of all students qualify for and receive financial aid. Some just don't get enough.
Paulbeck was one of those.
"Lisa was a single parent of two who had returned to Aitkin from the metro area," said Pam Thomsen, director of the CLC Foundation. "She was trying to attend college, be a mom and work. She was in danger of losing her home and being on the street. She received a scholarship at a very difficult time in her life and was able to continue and graduate."
Darla Myers and her son lived in a homeless shelter before Central Lakes College's Random Acts of Kindness Fund helped her buy $500 worth of books for her education.
Paulbeck said she was blessed to receive a scholarship given to her as an outstanding business student that defrayed the cost of tuition, fees, and books.
"The scholarship helped me tremendously from a financial perspective at a time when my family was struggling to get back on our feet," she said. "It also helped me from a personal perspective. Just knowing that my instructors had so much confidence in me raised my motivation and self-confidence.
"When Pam told me they'd nominated me for Outstanding Business Student, I didn't believe that I was worthy of the honor," she said. But her 3.95 GPA proved deserving.
She is employed by the Aitkin School District after a summer of part-time bookkeeping for a local resort.
Paulbeck plans to go on to St. Cloud State University for a degree. "I will be able to finish thanks to the huge help from the scholarships. Between loans and cleaning out my savings I didn't have much left."
Wille, living in rural Motley, lost her job at a credit union about the same time she started classes at CLC. With her son at home, she searched for the resources to simply put food on the table. Winter was closing in on their un-insulated trailer home.
"I was lucky," she said. "Campus security hired me for 20 hours per week."
In addition to several random acts of kindness from a CLC Foundation Board member, the Kurtz-Poland Spanish Scholarship enabled Wille to buy groceries and gas. The financial assistance also replaced fear with hope.
She is thankful that Dr. Jerome Poland of the Foundation Board took a special interest. He even drove out on Christmas Eve and offered to help with car repairs. He arranged part-time work cleaning houses.
Wille graduated with honors, earning her associate in arts degree for transfer to Augsburg College, where she is working toward a social work career and the goal of grant writing for non-profits once she obtains a Masters in administration.
Myers and her 5-year-old son, had spent 54 days in a homeless shelter when she enrolled for the spring semester during an EZ Enrollment Day at CLC.
It wasn't easy at all. Just months earlier she had been in her job of three years making $40,000 annually before the patent office in Mandan, N.D. , was forced to close as a federal cost-cutting measure.
She'd missed the financial aid application deadline. Referred to the Foundation office, she received assistance to buy textbooks. "I wouldn't have been able to stay in school otherwise," said the woman who had graduated at the top of her Bismarck high school class.
An "A" student in accounting at CLC, Myers works 35 hours per week at McDonald's and volunteers at New Pathways in Brainerd. She shared her story with local churches and families in a similar situation to hers just months ago. She says the foundation aid and the community have been "amazing."
This weekend's events will help sustain the fund.
"The Hunt Family performs original, Celtic, bluegrass, inspirational and popular tunes, offering a unique blend of diversity to every show," Thomsen said. "They will be so entertaining, and with a great dinner and silent auction, our generous friends are sure to enjoy the show and make a difference in students' lives."
Interested persons may visit www.huntsontour.com for more information on the group.
Thomsen said that $37 of each $75 ticket is a tax-deductible donation to the CLC Foundation.