Baylor/Waco Foundation Holds Campaign Kick-off

Hundreds of area residents gathered at the Starplex Galaxy 16 theater on Jan. 16 to learn about the 2003 fund campaign of the Baylor/Waco Foundation, a partnership between Baylor University and the Central Texas community. Debbie Keel, 2003 campaign chair, announced that monies raised this year will go toward three projects that will benefit Baylor and improve the quality of life for Central Texans.
For its major project, the foundation will help provide new seating at Waco Hall, which will undergo a major renovation this summer. This is not the first time the foundation has slated funds for Waco Hall. Several years ago, the organization helped purchase a new acoustic shell for the building's stage.
The foundation also will buy 15 heart defibrillators for 11 public venues at Baylor, including Waco Hall, athletic facilities and concert halls and theaters. For its third project, the cooperative organization will purchase tools for Baylor's Steppin' Out, a university-sponsored, community service event in which students participate in such tasks as landscaping, construction, painting, and cleaning up neighborhood throughout Waco.
Last year's campaign raised $172,000, an increase of 15 percent from the 2001 campaign total. The funds were used to help purchase a permanent state-of-the-art floor for the Ferrell Center, underwrite National Public Radio's Marketplace Morning Report on KWBU-FM and purchase visual enhancements for the Barfield Drawing Room in the Bill Daniel Student Center on campus.
In its 44-year history, the foundation has funded a wide variety of projects, including helping to purchase land for the state Little League headquarters, funding handicapped-accessible playground equipment at the Piper Child Development Center and providing a grant for the design of a website, electronic docents and other improvements for Armstrong Browning Library.