PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — Thanks to a charitable remainder trust from the late Floyd and Jean Harding, more than $537,000 has been transferred to the Northern Maine Community College Foundation for scholarships. This fall, 19 students are receiving scholarships ranging from $500 to $1000, and for the spring semester, more than $5000 will be disbursed from the fund.
Each year, approximately 4 percent of this endowed fund will be distributed for scholarships for students who are graduates of SAD 1 in Presque Isle, who have financial need and are enrolled in any program of study at NMCC.
In 2006, the Hardings made the largest donation ever received by the NMCC Foundation to that point: a $1 million charitable remainder trust. At the time of Floyd Harding’s passing this spring, more than $500,000 remained for the Jean and Floyd Harding Scholarship Fund. The donation doubled the scholarship funds previously available in the Foundation.
“We will always be indebted to the generosity shown to the college and this community by Floyd and Jean,” said NMCC President Tim Crowley. “They gave of their time and expertise — now their endowed donation will touch hundreds of students leading them to successful futures through quality education, an opportunity appreciated and valued by the Hardings.”
A charitable remainder trust is deferred giving that offers rewards to the donor and the charity and is a popular estate-planning option.
Floyd Harding was on the original committee that founded NM in the 1960s. He was a WWII veteran and prisoner of war who served three terms in the Maine State Senate, was an attorney in Presque Isle and lived an active life of civic involvement.
Jean Harding served on the Presque Isle City Council and was a strong advocate for the Sister Mary O’Donnell Homeless Shelter, the Central Aroostook Humane Society, the Opportunity Training Center, the recreation department, the Presque Isle Industrial Council and the Veterans’ Home in Caribou to name a few.
The Harding Scholarship is an open fund capable of receiving additional contributions from any person or organization. For further information about this or any other Foundation fund, please contact Sue Bernard at NMCC 768-2808.
