HUNTINGTON BEACH : College Foundation Widening Its Scope

The Golden West College Foundation, established six years ago mainly to raise scholarship money, is branching out to support a wider range of activities in an effort to help the college cope with the state funding crisis.

Besides maintaining its annual scholarship fund, the foundation is hoping to raise more money to help pay for building improvements and new educational programs at the college, said Glenda Blackburn, the foundation’s executive director.

The nonprofit group, set up in 1985, typically raises between $60,000 and $70,000 each year, most of which is awarded to students in scholarship grants. Its board of directors raises and distributes the funds.

For the past 18 months, however, the foundation has been expanding its board, hoping to take on additional duties, Blackburn said. That effort has gained a greater importance in light of the statewide school funding crunch, she said.

The board has grown to from 17 to 19 members, and Blackburn said the group eventually will expand to 22 members.

The most recent addition, Huntington Beach resident John McGovern, will join the board this month. He was elected by the board to a three-year term. McGovern is vice president of Toyota Industrial Equipment in Torrance and serves on the business school advisory board at Cal State Dominguez Hills.

“We’re looking to add more CEO types to the board, to give us a broader base of people with business expertise,” Blackburn said.

The foundation expects to raise money for such additional costs as improving the college’s theater, student union and child care facility, she said. The foundation also wants to expand the college’s annual “Renaissance A-Faire” and establish another similar special event to be held each year, she said.