Celeste Gruner to direct RCCC Foundation
Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Rowan-Cabarrus Community College has selected Celeste Gruner as director of the RCCC Foundation. Gruner comes to RCCC with seven years of community college foundation experience.
Gruner, a resident of Charlotte, is the chief development officer for Countryside Montessori Schools in Charlotte. Previously, she worked as the executive director of the Kellogg Community College Foundation in Battle Creek, Mich. Prior to that, she served as the foundation annual fund and special events coordinator at Washtenaw Community College in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Gruner, a certified fundraising executive (CFRE), earned a bachelor’s degree in public relations/communication studies from North Central College in Naperville, Ill., and a master’s degree in public administration from Walden University in Minneapolis.
The Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established to generate, receive and manage charitable contributions to the college. Since 1991, the RCCC Foundation has provided a much-needed source of additional funding to the college. These funds have enabled RCCC to provide services and achieve a level of excellence which would not be possible through state and local public funding alone.
The foundation is governed by a volunteer board of directors, composed of area business and community leaders. The board oversees all foundation projects and manages the allocation of gifts and contributions.
The RCCC Foundation has announced plans for its annual Golf Classic, which raises unrestricted funds for RCCC programs and services in the two-county area. This year’s Golf Classic will return to The Club at Irish Creek in Kannapolis, on Monday, Oct. 12. Play will begin with a shotgun start at 12:30 p.m. Anyone interested in sponsoring or playing in the event should call the college at 704-216-3453 for more details.