Mike Harris appointed Vice Chairman of the Friends of the SRJC Petaluma Campus Trust

The Friends of the Petaluma Campus Trust for the SRJC has appointed Mike Harris as Vice Chairman of the Board and Nicole Smartt to the Board of Directors.

The Friends of Petaluma Campus Trust are a group of interested Petaluma citizens that operate as a committee of the SRJC Foundation committed exclusively to the development of the Petaluma Campus. The Friends formed as a volunteer organization in 1997 to increase community awareness and support for our original Sonoma Mountain Parkway campus. These individuals are recognized throughout our local community as a dedicated and highly visible group of leaders and volunteers who give generously of their own personal resources and time to raise funds, serve as campus ambassadors and strengthen connections with residents, private businesses and public entities throughout the South County area. In 2006, in anticipation of the expansion and renovation projects funded by Measure A bond funds, the Friends embarked upon a $1 million fundraising campaign that established two endowments for SRJC, Petaluma; one in support of the overall campus and another in support of the Herold Mahoney Library. The names of donors who contributed to that campaign are memorialized on plaques throughout the campus and donors who gifted $1,000 or more are recognized on the Honor Wall of Donors located in the Call Building Administration lobby.

Endowment investment returns provide a wide array of equipment, materials and programmatic resources to enrich and strengthen SRJC, Petaluma science and technology education, student and community life, and support expansion of the Herold Mahoney Library, with particular focus on items not provided by state, local or bond funds. Thanks to the generosity of our community, the $1 million goal was achieved in 2011. Over the past five years, investment returns from the Petaluma and Mahoney endowments have provided over $91,000 in supplemental funds for library reference books and materials, start-up supplies and equipment for microbiology and chemistry, computers for use in the open lab for students taking digital media courses, biology microscopes, astronomy cameras, cultural events, anthropology lab specimens, a math calculator rental program, and many other needs. A separate fundraising effort helped the campus acquire a Steinway B concert grand piano for the Carole L. Ellis Auditorium; the related 88 Keys Campaign is helping create an endowment for the preservation and maintenance of this world-class instrument.

The Friends of the Petaluma Campus Trust is currently engaged in efforts to grow the campus endowments and raise funds for specialized campus needs. For more information, please contact Karen Maddux at 707- 778-3927.

The Mission: The mission of the Friends of Petaluma Campus Trust is to advance educational opportunities at the Petaluma Campus of the Santa Rosa Junior College by raising and stewarding funds to support programs, facilities, scholarships and special projects through public awareness and promoting activities on campus. In cooperation with the Santa Rosa Junior College Foundation, the Friends Trust strives to enhance the quality of higher education ini the communities we serve.

For more information about the Trust, go to: https://www.santarosa.edu/petaluma/friends-of-petaluma/