$100,000 BEQUESTS MAKING DIFFERENCE AVC FOUNDATION, GRACE AGENCY AIDED.

Byline: JIM SKEEN

Staff Writer

LANCASTER -- Bequests of $100,000 were presented Thursday to the Antelope Valley College Foundation and Grace Resource Center from the estate of Helen Babcock, a longtime resident who admired the work of both institutions.

For the college foundation, the donation actually means it will receive $200,000. Babcock's donation will be matched dollar for dollar by a federal grant for an endowment for the college.

"This will be helping students for years to come," said Bridget Razo, executive director of the college Institutional Advancement and Foundation Office. "This money will be working for students in perpetuity."

For Grace Resource Center, which provides aid for the homeless, the donation is the single largest in the organization's 16-year history. The gift will provide the organization with something it's never had before -- a cash reserve, said Steve Baker, the center's director.

"We've never had a cushion before," Baker said. "It takes a huge load off me."

Babcock and her husband, Roy, moved to the Antelope Valley in the early 1950s. She had worked at a Sears store before retiring, while Roy, who died 10 years ago, had been a longtime employee of Northrop Grumman.

Babcock had donated to both causes before, including $10,000 given three years ago to the college.

Babcock had a high regard for nursing and wanted to contribute more to the college and to its nursing program, said her friends Robert and Judy Lavens. She thought of Grace as "light in the community," the couple said.

The organization feeds 8,000 people a month and provides job and life skills for the needy. The center is hoping to start a culinary arts class later this year.

"This is a silent gift, but it means so much to us," Baker said. "I hope people will be moved by this to include us in their estate planning."

For the college, the donation ties in with a $3.5 million, five-year federal grant the college received last year. That grant is providing the matching funds for the endowment.

The Title V award was one of 33 presented nationally by the federal Department of Education to benefit institutions of higher learning whose enrollment is at least 25 percent Latino, half of whom are from low-income families.

Although the grant is based on minority populations, the money is used to benefit all AVC students, said Christos Valiotis, a physics instructor who serves as grant coordinator.

Efforts being conducted with the help of the grant funding include help broadening access to the college through community outreach and helping students stay in school and continue on to four-year colleges and universities, Valiotis said.

The grant is also assisting with partnerships AVC has with California State University, Bakersfield, and CSU Fresno to address shortages in the teaching and engineering professions, Valiotis said.

james.skeen@dailynews

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