{"id":2620,"date":"2025-11-07T16:19:01","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T22:19:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/?p=2620"},"modified":"2025-11-07T16:19:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T22:19:01","slug":"an-enchanted-evening-of-giving-how-jccc-turns-celebrations-into-scholarships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/2025\/11\/07\/an-enchanted-evening-of-giving-how-jccc-turns-celebrations-into-scholarships\/","title":{"rendered":"An Enchanted Evening of Giving: How JCCC Turns Celebrations Into Scholarships"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Photo provided by the JCCC Foundation)<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

With a ballroom full of laughter, music, and fine dining, the JCCC Foundation\u2019s Some Enchanted Evening Gala may look just like any other celebration. But behind the glitz and glamor, this event is responsible for raising over $1.5 million in scholarships for JCCC students.<\/p>\n

With the numbers rising each year, the event provides scholarships to over 1,600 students, allowing them to pay for classes without financial burden.<\/p>\n

During the gala, students\u2019 work and the college\u2019s success are featured, allowing donors to see just how much their contributions are affecting students\u2019 lives on and off campus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis year, we’re focusing on fire safety, nursing, interior design, fashion design, plumbing, veterans, journalism, photo journalism, STEM, floral design, music programs, animation, fine arts-painting, and Culinary,\u201d said Joy Ginsburg, Executive Director of the JCCC Foundation. \u201cSo we’re coordinating with a lot of different departments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides highlighting the programs across the campus, the event creates a place for community members to unite and share their passions for the school.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople call it the Johnson County prom,\u201d Ginsburg said. \u201c…It’s a way for community leaders, business leaders, [and] elected officials to come together and just have a great night to celebrate the amazing organization that Johnson County Community College is.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to promoting the college\u2019s successes, each year the foundation honors a community member with the title of \u201cJohnson Countian of the Year,\u201d which is decided by the foundation\u2019s committee.<\/p>\n

This year, Jon Stewart became the first JCCC alumnus to receive the award.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enrolled in the fall of 1980, seven years after I graduated from high school,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cJCCC and its amazing faculty were adept at instilling confidence in a non-traditional student like me. They helped me make it to an associate\u2019s degree and prepared me for completion of my business degree at KU.\u201d<\/p>\n

Stewart is grateful for the opportunities that JCCC gave him, and he believes that the scholarships the foundation provides make quite an impact.<\/p>\n

“The best thing about Some Enchanted Evening is not the award that I will receive,\u201d Stewart said. \u201cIt is the over [$1.5 million] that will be raised for scholarships that will help JCCC students improve their lives through education.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is such an emotional event, because you really feel the impact that you’re making for students,\u201d Ginsburg said. \u201cIt’s an opportunity to dress up, have fun, connect with other business and community leaders. But, at the end of the day, really, [donors] come because they care about our students. They care about making an impact in their lives. They care about workforce development and the needs that they have in the workforce that we’re filling a gap for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Next year\u2019s 40th anniversary Gala is scheduled for Saturday, Nov. 7. If you\u2019re interested in becoming a donor, save the date.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With a ballroom full of laughter, music, and fine dining, the JCCC Foundation\u2019s Some Enchanted Evening Gala may look just like any other celebration. But behind the glitz and glamor, this event is responsible for raising over $1.5 million in scholarships for JCCC students.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":2621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[260],"class_list":["post-2620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"author_meta":{"display_name":"Saul Epstein","author_link":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/author\/sepstein\/"},"featured_img":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/files\/2025\/11\/497JCCCGALA2024byRitaClarkHeirloomPhotoCo_optimized_2000.jpg","coauthors":[{"link":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/author\/aubrey-may\/","display_name":"Aubrey May"}],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["News<\/a>"],"unlinked":["News<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 10 months ago","modified":"Updated 10 months ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on November 7, 2025","modified":"Updated on November 7, 2025"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on November 7, 2025 4:19 pm","modified":"Updated on November 7, 2025 4:19 pm"},"featured_img_caption":"","series_order":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":260,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"aubrey-may","display_name":"Aubrey May","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&r=g","author_category":"","first_name":"","last_name":"","user_url":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/files\/2025\/11\/497JCCCGALA2024byRitaClarkHeirloomPhotoCo_optimized_2000.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2620"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2622,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2620\/revisions\/2622"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2620"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.jccc.edu\/messenger\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=2620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}