MIKE JAMES
Ashland Daily Independent

ASHLAND -- The gift of an Ashland Oil retiree will help students socked with unexpected burdens stay in school.

G. Fred Charles, who attended ACTC in 1941 when it was Ashland Junior College, made the donation that established the Emergency Student Support Fund, said Director of Advancement Frank Salisbury.

Charles' donation, along with other matching gifts, starts the fund out at a comfortable $25,000, Salisbury said.

The fund will be tapped to aid students with emergency needs, maybe a rent payment or gas money, said Charles, who left college to fight in World War II and then finished college and joined the legal department of Ashland Oil.

Charles and ACTC professor Pam Duelley are friends and conversations with her were enough to convince him that there are students, particularly single mothers, who struggle to provide for their families and continue their education. "Some of these young mothers face terrible hardships," he said. "When they're in a bind, if there's any way you can help them with a small donation, it only costs a few bucks," he said.

"Fred and Jean (Charles) are the most wonderful people in the world," said Duelley. "He went to school here, so he realizes the impact colleges have on our community. We've spent many hours talking about classes and he realizes what great struggles these students have.

"They have families and jobs and yet they're so determined. He decided he wanted to think of a way to help the students.

"His thinking is that a little can go a long way and make a big difference in a student's life."

One thing that touched him was hearing stories of faculty members who reached into their own pockets to help out their students, Charles said.

"We have a really great faculty who bond with their students and know the ones who are in need," Salisbury said. "I think that's one of the missions of a community college."

ACTC President Gregory Adkins will appoint a faculty committee to administer the fund, Salisbury said. Anyone wanting to help may send their donations to ACTC and make checks payable to the Emergency Student Support Fund, he said