5-13-09: Duke: Duke-Durham Campaign Raises More Than $1 Million

This year’s Duke-Durham campaign raised $848,434 through in-kind donations, as well as $190,308 in cash donations, to benefit the neighborhoods and public schools closest to Duke University’s campus.

Among those benefiting from this year’s campaign was Forest View Elementary School, where Mixon Construction oversaw the building of an amphitheatre for students to use.

Another beneficiary was New Horizons, a program that provides academic skills to at-risk youth, whose warehouse at 121 Hunt St. was renovated largely through in-kind contributions of labor and materials.

The annual Duke-Durham Campaign benefits the schools and organizations that are part of the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership. This year, more than three dozen community volunteers from Durham’s businesses and nonprofit community solicited donations from local companies and individuals.

“It has been such an honor to chair a campaign in which 100 percent of what is raised goes back to the Durham community,” said Jerry O’Keeffe, 2009 campaign chair and manager of the Large Customer Group at PSNC Energy.

Duke’s Office of Durham and Regional Affairs, along with its Office of Community Affairs, coordinate the Neighborhood Partnership. Through the partnership, the university and the 12 neighborhoods adjacent to campus collaborate on goals identified by the residents, including K-12 educational achievement and enrichment, affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, health care accessibility, and the engagement of Duke students and staff in community service.

“I am very proud of the Durham businesses and individuals who have given so generously during these difficult economic times,” said (Ms.) Lou Rollins, director of special projects in Duke’s Office of Durham and Regional Affairs, who administered the campaign. “We have seen an outpouring of donations, which speaks to the strength of this community.”

http://www.dukenews.duke.edu/2009/05/duke_durham.html