The Edmonds Community College Foundation announced Friday it reached its $1 million fundraising campaign goal for the Boots to Books and Beyond campaign.

“We are ecstatic that our community has overwhelmingly responded to our efforts to support student veterans and their families in helping us reach our campaign goal,” said Dr. Jean Hernandez, Edmonds CC President. “Edmonds CC is committed to ensuring a supportive path from military service to college and beyond.”

The Boots to Books and Beyond campaign supports student veteran success in a number of ways, including:
– Providing more extensive on-campus support services, including services for those facing visible and invisible wounds.
– Providing emergency and “gap” funds for unexpected expenses.
– Creating inviting space where they can network, share experiences, and access college and community information.
– Providing help in translating their military experiences into credits and meaningful employment.
– Offering peer mentoring to provide emotional and academic support from those with similar experiences.
– Offering employee training to enhance understanding of military culture and veteran reintegration challenges.
– Ensuring that student veterans succeed by creating an endowment for scholarships.

“Our community has stepped forward to support critical services for our veterans and their families,” said Steve Pennington, campaign co-chair and Foundation Board of Director member. “With 24 percent more student veterans being served in the Veterans Resource Center this year, our support is already making an impact.”

To learn more about the Boots to Books and Beyond campaign, visit www.edcc.edu/foundation/veterans. For more details, call 425-640-1512 or email boots2booksandbeyond@edcc.edu.