News Release

Duke-Durham Campaign Raises Record $412,000

(From the Duke News Service) Durham community and business leaders and Duke University on Thursday announced a record $412,000 in donations to the Duke-Durham Campaign, an annual fund-raising effort that benefits neighborhoods and public schools closest to Duke’s campus.

The Duke-Durham Campaign involves volunteers from Durham’s business and nonprofit communities who solicit funds from local companies and individuals for the Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership. Duke’s Office of Community Affairs coordinates the Neighborhood Partnership, which develops collaborative partnerships within the 12 neighborhoods adjacent to campus and seven public schools that serve those neighborhoods. Its goals include K-12 educational achievement and enrichment, affordable housing, neighborhood revitalization, health care accessibility, and engaging Duke students and staff in community service.

Dean Hamric, senior vice president for SunTrust Bank, served as the 2006 campaign chair. More than 50 community volunteers solicited donations, exceeding the 2005 total of $357,974 by more than $50,0000, said Sam Miglarese, Duke-Durham Campaign director and assistant director of the Office of Community Affairs.

“I’m grateful to Dean Hamric and the volunteers who have been such strong ambassadors for the partnership,” said Duke President Richard H. Brodhead, adding that Duke employees also supported the campaign through more than $5,000 in earmarked donations through the Duke-United Way Campaign. “I’m also proud of Duke employees and students who advance the goals of our partnership with Durham.”

Duke departments and contractors donated more than $100,000 in in-kind services to the campaign, including landscaping and a footbridge in Proud Shoes Park. The park beautifies a new addition to the West End neighborhood where 13 new homes are being built for low-income families in Pauli Murray Place.

Evan Covington-Chavez, residential development director at Self-Help Community Development Corporation, praised the work of the Duke contractors. Self-Help, a Neighborhood Partnership collaborator, is working on the new development with Habitat for Humanity, the Durham Land Trustees and a group of residents called the Quality of Life committee.

“To see this Proud Shoes Park come to life is amazing,” Covington-Chavez said. “It has truly exceeded my expectations. It shows contractors taking pride and ownership of their work and giving attention to neighborhoods that don’t normally receive much.”

Duke students also raised more than $10,000 for the campaign. This is the fifth year that students have led a course called the “Durham Giving Project” in which they study social issues that affect Durham, raise money and make donations to local non-profits.

Margaret Andrews, a May 2006 graduate who taught the philanthropy course, said Duke students were eager to support the local community: “We set up a table, and it was easy to solicit their support.”

Andrews, who revitalized the campus Big Brother/Big Sister program and ran a summer camp for at-risk children, is now pursuing a career in nonprofit leadership through a fellowship with The Duke Endowment, a charitable foundation in Charlotte.

“My involvement in the Neighborhood Partnership was the highlight of my Duke career,” she said. “I learned so much about myself and Durham.”

For more information, contact: Sam Miglarese, Office of Community Affairs | (919) 668-6275 | sam.miglarese@duke.edu

June 1 , 2006