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Bluefield College continues to draw closer to breaking ground on its landmark Campus and Community Wellness Center (CCWC), thanks to gifts from alumni and friends like Justin Hamm, a BC grad from Bluefield, West Virginia, who just gave $10,000 toward the cause.

Chris Shoemaker

December 19, 2012

Additional Gifts Needed to Meet Shott Challenge

The college officially launched its fundraising campaign for the new CCWC in the fall of 2011 with the hopes of raising $4 million by June of 2013 in order to break ground on the facility. In the spring of 2012, the Hugh I. Shott, Jr. Foundation pledged $1 million to the project in a challenge grant that calls on Bluefield College alumni and friends to raise an additional $1 million to match the foundation’s donation.

“We know how vital Bluefield College is to this community, and we want to support the school,” said Shott Foundation president R.W. ‘Buz’ Wilkinson. “We’re really proud to be a partner with the college on this new Campus and Community Wellness Center.”

To help his alma mater meet the Shott Challenge, Hamm gave $10,000 toward the $1 million goal. With gifts like Hamm’s, the college has accumulated just more $300,000 to date for the CCWC -- about one-third of the amount needed to meet the Shott Challenge and to put BC at $2 million of the $4 million required to begin phase one construction.

“The impact of the CCWC cannot be underestimated, as the current generation of students see this as a must-have amenity,” said Hamm about why he gave. “Supporting this campaign will be a catalyst generating recruitment growth for Bluefield College. Furthermore, the CCWC will provide the college a facility to emphasize general wellness that will assist future graduates in their life pursuits. For such reasons, I donated and I cannot wait to see this facility come to fruition.”

Hamm is the chief executive officer and president of Belt Tech Conveyor Services of Bluefield. Before that, he was director of information services for seven years at Bluefield Regional Medical Center and a district information systems coordinator for three years for the West Virginia Department of Transportation. He has also served as a member of the Economic Development Committee for the City of Bluefield, West Virginia.

A certified project management professional, Hamm earned a master’s degree in information systems from Marshall University after earning his bachelor’s degree in business administration with concentrations in information technology and business management from Bluefield College.

“My best experiences at Bluefield College were usually spent in the computer labs, writing code or learning the latest IT systems and their applications,” said Hamm, who became one of the youngest directors at a major employer in the area. “The technical skills coupled with the business concepts I learned at Bluefield really gave me the tools to succeed.”

Hamm credits professors like Dr. Dusty Anderson, assistant professor of information technology, and Dee Shoemaker, assistant professor of business, for much of his success, both before and after graduating from BC. While a student, he was a member of the Alpha Chi National Honor Society and earned the school’s Frank S. Easley Award as the outstanding student majoring in business. He graduated summa cum laude.

“I am so thankful for Justin’s and Belt Tech’s generosity,” said Ruth Blankenship, BC’s vice president for advancement. “The CCWC will only become a reality with gifts like this from alumni, friends, foundations and area businesses.”

The Campus and Community Wellness Center is a proposed $14 million structure to be constructed in three separate phases on the east end of campus where the Dome Gymnasium currently resides. Once completed the building will total more than 65,000 square feet and house a 1,000-seat intercollegiate competition gymnasium, a recreation gymnasium, an indoor walking track, an athletic training center, classrooms, offices, and a natatorium.

Blankenship added that she hopes that other alumni and friends from the community will include a contribution to the CCWC in their year-end giving plans.

“We need $700,000 in gifts and pledges by June 2013 to meet the Shott Challenge,” she said. “It’s a great year-end giving opportunity, and gifts of any size, from $1 to $50,000, are needed to make this a reality. Every dollar and every donor matters. This facility is not just for Bluefield College, but for the future of Greater Bluefield to provide expanded health and wellness opportunities for our students and the community at-large.”

Pledges, she noted, can be fulfilled over a five-year span. For example, donors that make a gift commitment of $10,000 -- paid at a rate of $167 per month for five years -- will be included in the 167 Club, a special CCWC campaign giving society with unique membership benefits. Gifts, she added, can be cash or stock and may even be doubled through an employer’s matching gift program.

“As the first free standing wellness center in Bluefield College history, this facility will serve the recreational, fitness and activity interests of students, faculty, staff and alumni,” said Blankenship. “It will not only be an important asset to the college, but also to the community and region.”

For more information or to make your gift today, visit the Bluefield College web site at www.bluefield.edu/ccwc, or contact Blankenship by e-mail at or by phone at 276-326-4556.

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