Her Job Is Cultivating Friends. Funds
BY SUSAN USHER
Full or partial tuition scholarships
to attend Brunswick Community
College. Work-study opportunities.
An emergency student loan. A grant
for an instructor to receive training.
BCC Ambassadors. Front-end align
ment equipment for the automotive
technology department.
Where does the money come
from? The Brunswick Community
College Foundation. A private, non
profit. tax-exempt organization gov
erned by a board of directors, the
foundation generates community
support for advancement of BCC.
As its executive director and
BCC's resource development offi
cer. Dianne White Ledbetter could
be called BCC's master gardener:
She cultivates resources to help
transform dreams into reality, be it a
student's dream of attending college
or the college's dream of establish
ing a new program. Working along
side are resource development com
mittee members John Fazekas. Da
vid Batten. A1 Parker. Marshall
Woodard and foundation President
Lee Langs ton.
From 2 I??~.th?n-lifr tl 000 bill
hanging on Ledbetter 's bulletin
board. President Cleveland appears to
be sisriug pssi her Seward the color
ful map print of Southport behind her
desk. Like her "$1 million" button,
she says, the bill's a gimmick with a
purpose: A daily reminder to dream
big. to plan big. and to "go after the
big ones" when seeking the support
that makes a difference in the quality
of education BCC provides.
Ledbetter brings to the role 20
years of experience in volunteer co
ordination. public relations and
fundraising. along with degrees
from Chowan College and Guilford
College, and a master of divinity
from Southeastern Baptist Theolo
gical Seminary. A resident of Wilm
ington, she served as director of
public relations and fund develop
ment for Lower Cape Fear Hospice
Inc. one year before joining BCC's
staff six months ago.
Ledbetter had applied for the
BCC job the year before, but in the
meantime received and accepted the
10b offer from Hospice. Glenn Bare
foot took the job as BCC foundation
executive, succeeding Vicki Spen
;er, but left after a year because of
ncreased responsibilities with a
"amily -owned business.
"When the job opened up again."
said Led better. "I jumped on it and I
haven't regretted it."
The move brought her back to an
educational setting where she has
spent much of her career. "I really
thought I was going to be a teacher,**
she recalled. "My grandfather was
my high school principal and my al
gebra teacher, and I was not a good
math student.
"Then I thought of doing some
tvpe of ministry, but in the South
and the Southern Baptist Church and
with my husband being in the min
istry...! went elsewhere, into com
munity volunteer work."
Eventually that led to Gardner
Webb College at Boiling Springs, a
Baptist-supported school, asking her
to do its annual giving campaign.
"I was hooked." she said.
Since then her energies have been
devoted to promoting philanthropy,
creating opportunities for people to
advance worthwhile causes using
whatever gifts or talents they have to
offer.
Ledbetter spent four years as di
rector of alumni affairs and annual
giving at Gardner-Webb, then four
years as director of annual giving at
Lenoir-Rhyne College in Hickory.
When her husband Don's ministry
brought thrm to the eastern part of
the state, Lenoir-Rhyne made her re
gional coordinator of its Centennial
Renewal Campaign, working with
36 Lutheran churches, alumni, par
ents and friends in eastern North
Carolina.
At both campuses her efforts re
sulted in increased participation in
annual giving broadening of their
volunteer base and adding of new
programs.
While progress is continuous, she
said, "It takes about three years to
get a program where you want it to
be, to get some real positive results
rolling in."
She's discovered that people here
"have a sense of BCC being a real
'community' college." not simply a
state-supported institution, "ITiat
makes her job easier as she moves
about the county, representing the
college in the best light possible,
presenting its successes 2nd needs,
serving as its eyes and ears.
Anytime someone has a suggestion
she follows up, whether it's a pro
posal to offer a class in pet groom
ing or a question about the college
itself.
As important as feedback from
the community is, said Ledbctter,
"what I've enjoyed about all college
work is contact with students.
Knowing what they're thinking, get
ting feedback from them is impor
tant as well."
Friends and funds are the under
pinnings needed to realize the foun
dation's goal of fostering excellence
at BCC. And, in this new age of ac
countability, she wants to make sure
the foundation remains "squeaky
dean .
One of Ledbctter 's goals is to in
crease emphasis on undesignated
gifts. All profits of an Aug. 12 "ex
travaganza" at Sea Trail Plantation,
her first major fundraising-event.
will go for this purpose.
"The endowed scholarships and
gifts to specific purposes are won
derful, but it's good to be able to
meet whatever the greatest need is at
the time," she said. "We need to
make sure we bring in enough mon
ey every year to support the budget
and to increase scholarship*, as we!!
as gifts to support other needs '"
Also in the works or planned arc
upgrading of the office computer
and updating of flics to support a
year-round giving program; a
newsletter to keep faculty members
informed of funding opportunities
and deadlines: start-up of a program
of planned giving and eventually a
BCC alumni support program; and
pursuit of funding for several col
lege needs.
"I want to be actively helping the
Brunswick Interagency Program
with a project it wants, student ser
vices needs a hill-time placement
person, and having daycare on cam
pus is a real need," she said. "I'd
like to have some of those in the fire
within the next year."
"We have a number of programs
thai arc in their infancy that need a
lot of support ? the auditorium, the
recreational grounds management
program and the new aquaculture
program starting this fall," she said.
"But the potential is really exciting."
That challenge, and the sense of
being part of a small organization
that s like "an extended family, are
among the factors that have won her
commitment to help nurture BCC
and its students.
PHOTO CONTl?UTH>
Flag Day Guests
Calabash Elks Lodge honored guests (from left) Pat Patterson ,
Paul Schasney and Howard Muth, pose with the American flag
during Flag Day ceremonies June 12 at the lodge. The ceremonies
were attended by 115, including Bill Werner, commander of VFW
Post 7288, and Bill Krous, commander of American Legion Post
503. Flags of the nation from pre-Revolutionary days to the present
were presented by bearers Bob Foster, John Carpenter, Les
Whaley, Darius LeweUyn, George Conely, Hal Schweickhard, Russ
Potizzotti and jack vaieruine. Eiks Ciubs began sponsoring Fiag
Day celebrations in 1908.
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