Education: Pfeiffer among beneficiaries of the Cannon Charitable Trust

Published 12:00 am Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Misenheimer ó Charles A. Cannon Charitable Trusts has recently named Pfeiffer University among its list of designated beneficiaries.
Pfeiffer has historically received the support of the Cannon Foundation Inc., which has helped fund numerous campus renovation and improvement projects.
The Cannon Charitable Trusts is a sibling grant-making organization that operates independently from the foundation.
Pfeiffer has received grants from the foundation totaling more than $5 million since 1956. This support has enabled the university to maintain its facilities and make physical improvements, including renovations to the university’s Henry Pfeiffer Chapel and Cline Residence Hall, one of the university’s oldest buildings, constructed in 1935.
Last spring, the Cannon Foundation provided a gift of $200,000 to help create an enrollment management center, which is in Pfeiffer’s 85-year-old administration building. The enhancement of this area has provided a better way for the offices of admissions and financial aid to serve current and prospective students, their families and visitors by creating a more cohesive, welcoming and efficient environment.
“On a residential campus that has a number of historic buildings, the care and maintenance of those facilities is imperative. Those special projects that we otherwise would not have resources to fund will now be made possible through this new designation from the Cannon Trust,” explained Pfeiffer President Dr. Chuck Ambrose. “This will allow Pfeiffer the opportunity to continue to improve and deliver a higher quality of service to current and future students.”
Ambrose said the Cannon Foundation has provided a much higher degree of meaning to the campus transformation at Pfeiffer. He anticipates the Cannon Charitable Trust, which provides grants to pre-named beneficiaries only, will offer additional significance in the life of the university.
Charles A. Cannon founded the Cannon Foundation in 1943, with giving focused on communities where Cannon Mills plants were located. Virtually all giving is in North Carolina. Historically, the principal grant fields have been health care, higher education and human services.