Business owners make donation for new building

Ben Rolphe believes that if you live in an area and you like it there, you should support it in philanthropic endeavors. He considers it’s like “paying rent.” This time the bill came to $200,000. For that, the Rolphe name will live on in the halls of the new North Idaho College Health and Sciences Building. An auditorium will be named after Anna, who worked as a nurse.

Local students will be the beneficiaries from the funds donated by the Rolphes and others as part of the NIC Foundation Providing Opportunities-Fulfilling Dreams Community Campaign. Campaign leaders want to raise at least $2 million, which includes $1 million for state-of-the-art technology and $1 million for new scholarships.

Thanks to an $11.9 million allocation from the state of Idaho, the new structure is in the works and will provide space for more students to pursue interests in the medical and science fields. State funds cover the cost of site preparation, construction, fixed equipment and the basic infrastructure. To fill the classrooms and laboratories with necessary tools, the community must come up with the rest of the money.

Longtime Coeur d’Alene residents and business owners Ben and Anna Rolphe were former owners of Century Publishing and still own publications throughout the West. Health and education have always been their primary interests, and the NIC project ties together both, said Ben Rolphe.

“There’s a desperate need for nurses throughout the nation,” he said. “I think NIC is able to fill a void in this area and provide opportunities for local people.”

The fund-raising campaign has naming opportunities for classrooms, offices and labs for gifts starting at $10,000. The donor of a $2 million gift would have the opportunity to name the building.

Special Gifts Division Chair Sue Thilo said that there have been some serious inquiries, but so far “John Doe Health and Science Building” remains a possibility. She believes making a donation is a lasting way to contribute to the community. Signs in classroom halls to honor donors will be an inspiration to thousands of future students.

“This is forever,” she said.

Thilo noted that some may prefer to have names or memorials attached to a lasting scholarship. The campaign officially kicked off in July and, with the help of more than 200 volunteers, $1.1 million has been donated so far.

“We’re thrilled by the progress the campaign has made to date,” Thilo said. “We have every reason to believe we’ll meet and exceed our goal.”

One of the largest contributions came from Kootenai Medical Center, whose trustees committed $250,000 for equipment and furnishings. KMC also agreed to grant NIC access to savings through membership in its health care group purchasing organization. The NIC program provides 80 percent of the nurses hired by KMC and has been credited for preventing a local work-force shortage in health professions.

Funds collected beyond the $2 million goal will mean more opportunities for local students. Eighty percent of NIC students qualify for financial aid, but limited resources allow only a fraction of those to receive additional help from NIC Foundation funds, according to Ken Propst, NIC community relations spokesman. Additional scholarship funds will be set up and available to all students. Money beyond the technology fund’s goal will go to a replacement fund so that equipment like computer software and microscopes can be updated and replaced over time.

Enrollment at NIC has increased 26 percent over the past five years, and programs in health and science fields have been unable to accommodate the growing number of qualified applicants, Propst said. The new two-story building will increase classroom capacity by 25 percent and is scheduled to open in September 2005. Visit www.nic.edu./foundation/campaign to see a live Web cam of the work in progress.