MONROE/POLKTON—The James R. and Bronnie L. Braswell Charitable Trust, under the direction of George C. Bower Jr., has awarded South Piedmont Community College a $500,000 gift to purchase equipment and support technological infrastructure on its campuses.
“We are grateful for the Braswell Trust’s ongoing generous support of South Piedmont Community College and for the confidence that has been placed in us to honor Mr. and Mrs. Braswell through that support,” said Julie Sikes, SPCC’s Vice President of Institutional Advancement. “Their legacy and passion for education carries on through the many students who have served as Braswell Ambassadors and New Century Scholars and through the students who have benefited from the workforce-relevant, advanced equipment purchased through Braswell funds in support of our programs.”
South Piedmont Community College continues to work toward providing new and upgraded facilities to meet current and future workforce needs in Anson and Union counties. Although the college’s successful bond initiative will provide funding to upgrade and construct new brick-and-mortar facilities in Union County, the funds do not cover the costs associated with the necessary equipment and technological infrastructure for the projects. The Braswell grant, which will be made over a two-year period, represents a huge boost to those efforts.
SPCC has enjoyed a long relationship with the Braswell Trust. In 2000, the Braswell Scholarship, which has evolved into today’s Braswell Ambassadors Program at the college, was created through the Trust’s generosity.
James Braswell was a bank president, a farmer, and a former chairman of the Union County Board of Commissioners, and his wife Bronnie was a school teacher. Both were active members of Wingate United Methodist Church. The Braswells are now deceased, but their generosity continues to enrich the lives of those in their community and well beyond.