Students at Bluefield College will soon have access to more financial aid, thanks to a generous gift from the Keesee Foundation.
Members of the Martinsville-based fund were on the BC campus March 15 to present a $200,000 check to the school for need-based scholarships for students.
Established in 1941, the Charles B. Keesee Educational Fund was created to help qualified young men and women obtain a college education.
Founded by the Keesees with $75,000, the fund now has grown to distribute more than $2 million annually to students enrolled at Baptist academies and colleges across Virginia and Baptist seminaries across the country. Originally set up to assist students primarily through the granting of low interest loans, the Keesee Fund recently changed its bylaws so that students would have access to scholarships, not loans, for college tuition.
“We can think of nothing better than to give these funds to students,” said Frank Campbell, one of Keesee's trustees, about the Foundation's efforts to disburse even more of its assets through grants. “Mr. and Mrs. Keesee wanted to help young people have the opportunity to pursue higher education. Our goal is the goal of the Keesees—to help students earn their undergraduate degree in a Christian environment.”
Demonstrating that greater generosity, the Keesee Fund and its representatives—Campbell; Doug Ramsey, chief executive officer of the Foundation; and Paul Fletcher, a member of the organization's board of trustees—signed a new covenant with Bluefield College officials during the March 15 ceremony. As one of only four colleges in Virginia to have a relationship with the Keesee Fund, Bluefield College and its students will now receive $200,000 a year in grant money, not loan funds, from the Keesee Foundation.
“We're so grateful for this,” said interim BC president Charles Warren. “You can be assured of our unwavering commitment to our students, to Christian education, and to our shared sense of mission with Virginia Baptists.”