UCA Foundation Gets New Name

One dream – enhancing UCA

One focus – UCA students

One school – Upper Columbia Academy

One goal – grants/scholarships

One method – endowment

The Upper Columbia Academy (UCA) Foundation board recently voted for a new name and logo. This change comes following a yearlong discussion regarding how to make it clear that the foundation is not UCA, but a supporting organization for UCA.

The new name, FoundationONE, sets the foundation apart. The old name (Upper Columbia Academy Foundation) put the name of the school first, so the foundation was often mistaken for UCA. The new name and logo clearly communicate the organization's identity (a foundation) and mission (UCA students).

When UCA Foundation was established, the dream was to forever secure the opportunity of an Adventist education at Upper Columbia Academy for every student who wished to attend. The foundation has made progress toward that goal but has not yet achieved it.

The cost of private education continues to escalate, so the foundation's vision must also expand. The fee for a boarding student at UCA is now more than $17,000 per year. The foundation's average annual grant is $1,000.

The foundation board is determined to make UCA’s education more accessible. It is setting strategies to grow the endowment from $1.7 million to $5 million. Then it will regroup and go for $10 million.

As the foundation’s assets grow, the board will be able to award more and larger scholarships and grants, permitting more students to engage in UCA’s life-transforming education.

The foundation’s DNA has not changed. Its new name and logo simply sets the course for growth and signals a rekindled passion and determination to accomplish the original, essential and far-reaching mission.

Featured in: January 2015

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