Alliance Data Continues to Support UNCF with $10,000 Donation

(NDG Wire) The United Negro College Fund (UNCF), the nation’s largest and most effective minority education organization, received $10,000 from Alliance Data to support UNCF’s Campaign for Emergency Student Aid, an initiative to help thousands of recession-impacted students enroll for their senior year and receive their college degree at one of UNCF’s 39 member historically black colleges and universities.

UNCF is seeking to raise a total of $5 million through individual, corporation and foundation donations to help thousands of students finish the fall semester and enroll for school in the spring. To date the Campaign has raised $2.3 million and helped more than 1,200 students pay their unpaid balances and graduate.

“Alliance Data’s contribution to UNCF’s Campaign for Emergency Student Aid is a lifeline to students whose college education is threatened by the recession,” said Michael L. Lomax, Ph.D., UNCF president and CEO. “Campaign for Emergency Student Aid 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 Alliance Data hadn’t stepped up.”

“At Alliance Data, supporting education initiatives such as UNCF’s Emergency Student Aid Campaign is a key focus area of our corporate giving,” said Ed Heffernan, president and CEO of Alliance Data. “By answering UNCF and The Andrew W. Mellow Foundation’s challenge grant, we’re excited that our $10,000 donation ultimately became a $20,000 matched gift to UNCF—helping that many more students continue their education.”

The $500,000 grant recently received from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation supported UNCF’s Emergency Student Aid Campaign. Half of the Mellon donation was a dollar-for-dollar challenge grant, which matched contributions to the Emergency Student Aid Campaign up to $250,000.

“Here in North Texas, we’re ready to take on the challenge of ensuring that kids from this area can pay their tuition, stay in school and graduate,” said UNCF Area Development Director Diane Stephenson. “Four-thousand kids from Texas are studying at UNCF colleges, working for their degrees. We owe it to them, and to all the 55,000 students at UNCF schools, to help them survive the recession and stay in school.”

Since its founding, UNCF has helped 350,000 students earn degrees from its 39 member colleges and universities. Today, 55,000 students attend UNCF member institutions each year.

Anyone wishing to support UNCF in its mission to help students earn their college degree, send your donation to UNCF – Attn: Campaign For Emergency Student Aid, 2800 Swiss Avenue, Dallas, TX 75204, or call 972-234-1007.