Your Impact
Scholarship Recipients – In their words
Your gift has a direct impact on student success, helping to remove barriers and ensure everyone has access to an excellent education.
Scholarship Reception: Dozens of supporters and friends of the college celebrated the nearly 400 scholarship recipients during a special reception on May 15. The Holyoke Community College Foundation awarded more than $364,000 in scholarships last fiscal year.
AJ Lassend received the Donald Taber Art Scholarship and is excited to tell you about his interest in art.
Kseniia Fox, an accounting student and a mother, is the recipient of the John “Jack” Doyle Memorial Scholarship.
Transformational Impact
There are countless ways that your support has helped uplift our students.
60 Seconds of Change
The Division of Institutional Advancement launched 60 Seconds of Change, a monthly roundup of all the ways donor support is impacting campus life. In the May edition, Laura White, assistant director for donor relations, reported on how student Joe Black found success through mentorship; gave an update on the impact of the Thrive Center and Food Pantry; and celebrated the success of our scholarship recipients.
Expanding Support
The Thrive Center Food Pantry was able to purchase refrigerated lockers, which allow the pantry to provide a wider variety of food and give students access to their orders outside the pantry’s normal hours. Watch as Elizabeth Eastman explains the ways these lockers have changed the student experience.
Together HCC
The fifth annual "Together HCC: Drive to Change Lives” campaign exceeded its goal of 500 donors, receiving donations worth $181,285 from 504 alumni, students, faculty, staff, and friends of the college during the 24-hour fundraising drive.
Stories of Impact
Read the ways in which your support keeps the spirit of generosity, perseverance, and community alive at Holyoke Community College.
Innovation challenge
Using funding from donors like you, an HCC student team advanced to the finals of a nationwide innovation contest for their plan to build a sustainable cooling system for AI-driven computer data centers.
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A Major Moment
Holyoke Community College celebrated the grand opening of its Marieb Adult Learner Success Center and Parent Learning Center, which is funded by the Elaine Nicpon Marieb Foundation.
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A Cut Above
HCC held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the reopening and expansion of the Thrive Center and Food Pantry in a brand new space in the Kittredge Center, made possible by donors like you.
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Happy to Be here
Dawn Butz faced an impossible choice between paying her mortgage and pursuing her lifelong dream of becoming a nurse—until donor support through the HCC Foundation made both possible.
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A Silent Hero
What started as a simple bowl of candy on JoAnne Wrobel's desk has grown into HCC's thriving food pantry and a new scholarship—both made possible by the generosity of donors who understand that small acts of kindness can transform entire communities.
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The Connection
Catch up on the latest stories in the most recent edition of The Connection
Grant-Funded Opportunities
Grant funding fuels innovation and collaboration, and we are grateful to our business and community partners for their belief in the HCC mission. A few highlights include:
- The Green Construction, Electricity and Clean Energy Systems program—funded through a two-year, $832,000 state grant HCC received in 2024 for climate-related workforce training initiatives—will train workers for jobs in the clean energy sector.
- A $500,000 grant from the Commonwealth Corporation will upskill incumbent workers and recruit new workers for positions as medical assistants. This builds on an existing, innovative collaboration between HCC, Baystate Health, and the Holyoke Medical Centers on a medical assistant program and a pharmacy technician training program already supported by the Commonwealth Corporation.
- A $750,000 grant from the Mass Gaming Commission will support training in hospitality and line cook professions.
Other highlights from 2024-2025:
- The HCC Foundation awarded more than $364,000 in scholarship aid to 379 unique student recipients this spring.
- 40 scholarship recipients were on the Dean’s list for the spring 2025 Semester, and 41 Scholarship recipients were on the Dean’s list for the fall 2024 semester
- 310 students participated in the new Marieb Adult Learner Success Center and Parent Learning Center, a new support program for students 24 years and older or any student-parent.
- Thanks to donor support, Itsy Bitsy Childwatch was able to renovate and move into a new, larger space on campus, and hire an additional staff member— increasing capacity from 40 to 64 children.
- 89 students were inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, a 48% increase in membership from last year. The HCC Foundation covered the application fee for 27 of those applicants. Phi Theta Kappa Society is an international honors society for two-year colleges. Students must have a 3.5 GPA and have successfully completed 15 semester hours at HCC to become a member.
- Funding from the HCC Foundation helped launch the Menstrual Equity and EveryStall Project, which has stocked period products across campus.