The St. Charles Community College Foundation received an $8,000 grant from the UPS Foundation to support the Career Explorations Alliance. 


The SCC Foundation received an $8,000 grant from the UPS Foundation to support the Career Explorations program. (Left to right) David Hopkins, UPS Central Plains District director of marketing and SCC Foundation board member; Betsy Schneider, SCC Foundation director of development; Eric Henderson, UPS Central Plains District employee relations manager.

The CEA program connects students and educators with professionals across all industries who are willing to invest their time by providing job shadowing, mentoring, teacher externships and classroom presentations.

“Students are able to get a glimpse into a field before they fully invest into it and the professionals are very proud to share their knowledge and expertise with the younger generation, so it's a win-win for both,” said Dawn Thornton, Career Explorations Alliance program manager. 

Thanks to UPS and other corporate partners, participating schools only pay a modest stipend for their students to participate. Schools include the five public school districts in St. Charles county, the Lincoln County (Troy) School District and St. Charles Community College. For more information, visit careerexplorationsalliance.com. 

UPS has been supporting the SCC Foundation in a number of ways since 1991. Beyond grant funding, UPS believes in volunteering for the organizations it supports. In addition to local UPS employees providing job-shadowing opportunities for students as a part of the CEA program, a team from UPS helps set up and work at the SCC Foundation's community-wide event each year.

“We are proud to be a longstanding corporate partner for SCC, and that our contributions have an impact on the success of the students and college,” said David Hopkins, UPS director of marketing, and a member of the SCC Foundation Board.

The St. Charles Community College Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, raises funds to support student scholarships and educational programs for the college. For more information on the SCC Foundation and its vision to transform lives and strengthen communities, visit stchas.edu/foundation. 

St. Charles Community College is a public, comprehensive two-year community college with associate degrees and certificate programs in the arts, business, sciences and career-technical fields. SCC provides workforce training and community-based personal and professional development as well as cultural, recreational and entertainment opportunities. For more information, visit www.stchas.edu.