OCC foundation hits fundraising milestone with $4.3 million

The Orange Coast College Foundation received more than $4 million in donations this year, a record-breaking number for the fundraising group.

The college announced the $4,343,652 in cash donations for the 2013-14 school year in a news release Tuesday.

OCC achieved its previous best in the 2004-2005 school year, with $3,331,402 in cash gifts.

“We are pleased at the diversity of gifts in terms of sources and types of gift,” said OCC Foundation Executive Director Doug Bennett. “We are honored that our donors are so generous in their support of OCC students.”

The college received 2,666 cash contributions to support student services, scholarships and programs.

Notable donations include an anonymous gift of $1 million for the college’s astronomy program; $480,000 from the estate of Ruth Miller, a longtime Costa Mesa resident who died in 2012; and $511,920 from the CIFE Foundation for a friction-stir welding machine, which will arrive in early 2015.

In addition, the foundation reported an anonymous gift of $100,000 for the School of Sailing and Seamanship and $194,000 from the estate of Giles Brown, a founding faculty member, the release stated.

The foundation also reported 101 donations in the form of in-kind gifts including boats and equipment.

The college foundation was established in 1985 with about $1 million in assets. The organization has more than $21 million in assets, including $17 million in cash, according to a news release.

“It is this support at a time when funding for higher education is facing many challenges that allows OCC to be accessible to a larger number of students and to contribute to the lives of our students,” President Dennis Harkins said in a prepared statement.

For information about donation opportunities, contact Bennett at (714) 432-5126.