Scholarship Goal Surpassed
Community Shows Unprecedented Support for Future Nurses, TTUHSC El Paso Raises $1.75 Million for Scholarships
Community will celebrate a decade of educating over 1,000 nurses during Cirque de Corazón on May 6
The hard work and dedication of El Paso nurses displayed during the COVID-19 pandemic and mass-shooting tragedy of Aug. 3, 2019, is immeasurable, and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso is making sure the next generation of trusted nursing heroes is just as prepared and dedicated to compassionate care.
During Nurses Week in 2021, TTUHSC El Paso set a goal of raising $500,000 for nursing scholarships to kick off a year-long celebration of the 10-year anniversary of the Hunt School of Nursing. We’re pleased to announce that thanks to the overwhelming response from the El Paso community, we’ve surpassed that goal, and have raised $1.75 million to support future and current nursing students. Our fundraising amount to date includes:
Champions of Trusted Heroes campaign: $1.2 million.
The Hunt School of Nursing’s upcoming Cirque de Corazón celebration event and Casa Ford truck raffle ticket sales: $550,000.
The yearlong initiative started in spring 2021 with the Champions of Trusted Heroes campaign, a community-driven, employer-matched fundraising initiative for the Hunt School of Nursing.
“Signature Champions of Trusted Heroes,” Lone Star Title Company and El Paso Electric helped TTUHSC El Paso kick off the campaign with $25,000 gifts each to the Hunt School of Nursing’s Scholarship Fund. The fund will provide scholarships and other financial and educational support for current students to help them complete their degrees. The Champions of Trusted Heroes campaign raised $100,000 in spring 2021 with gifts of all amounts from employees at local businesses who wanted to honor the sacrifices of nurses.
The Champions of Trusted Heroes campaign was an unparalleled success, thanks to support from many El Paso-based and El Paso-serving businesses and organizations that gave their hearts to our future nurses by donating funds for scholarships.
“Every time we ask the community for their help in supporting our future health care heroes they always step up, and our fundraising initiatives with the 10-year anniversary of the Hunt School of Nursing is no different,” said Andrea Tawney, Ph.D., vice president for TTUHSC El Paso’s Office of Institutional Advancement. “We are so grateful for the outpouring of community support knowing that it will make a difference in the lives of our students and the patients they’ll serve in the future.”
Fundraising will continue up to Cirque de Corazón, which will be held May 6 on the TTUHSC El Paso campus. The event will feature a text-to-give campaign where attendees can contribute to the scholarship endowment throughout the evening using their cell phones. If at least $25,000 is raised, El Paso financial institution WestStar will match the donations.
Cirque de Corazón’s presenting sponsor is Lone Star Title, and Signature Heart sponsors include Hunt Companies, the Chiu Family Foundation, AT&T Foundation, Exova Diagnostics, the Judy and Kirk Robison Foundation and many more El Paso businesses and organizations.
A Winning Combination: A Raider-Red Truck and Future Nurses
The community still has an opportunity to contribute to student scholarships and get a chance to win a new 2021 Ford F-150 truck with the FX4 Off-Road package, valued at $55,075. TTUHSC El Paso has partnered with Casa Ford and the Paso del Norte Community Foundation to raffle off the Texas Tech Raider-red truck. Six hundred raffle tickets will be sold, and tickets are $200 each or three for $500.
The winner will be announced via Facebook Live during the Cirque de Corazón event. Raffle tickets can be purchased at https://pdnfoundation.org/events/red-raider-truck-raffle.
Scholarships Help Address the Nursing Shortage
Stephanie Woods, Ph.D., R.N., dean of the Hunt School of Nursing said TTUHSC El Paso is educating compassionate and competent nurses who are well-prepared to serve in our local hospitals.
“We’re putting new nurses into our region’s hospitals two years sooner than most. This is life-changing, not only for students and their families, but for the community, which faces a severe shortage of nurses,” Dr. Woods said. “But first, we have to ensure that talented local students have everything they need to successfully complete our nursing program. Having a scholarship means students worry less about having to work a full-time job while going through school, and can concentrate on becoming the compassionate, highly skilled nurses we know they can be.”
About the Hunt School of Nursing
The Hunt School of Nursing is celebrating its 10th anniversary and its contribution to higher education and health care in the Paso del Norte region while combating the critical shortage of nurses in West Texas. Currently, 87% of students from the school are El Paso natives, fulfilling TTUHSC El Paso’s mission to create more educational opportunities for Borderplex residents.
To date, the Hunt School of Nursing has graduated more than 1,000 students, with a majority of those graduates staying in the region. The school has partnerships with every hospital in the El Paso community, which includes both clinical rotation opportunities and job placements post-graduation.
About TTUHSC El Paso
TTUHSC El Paso is the only health sciences center on the U.S.-Mexico border and serves 108 counties in West Texas that have been historically underserved. It is designated as a Title V Hispanic-Serving Institution, preparing the next generation of health care heroes, 48% of whom identify as Hispanic and are often first-generation college students.