News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5056 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE APRIL 5, 2006

ABAC STUDENTS WILL BENEFIT FROM YEARWOOD CONCERT

TIFTON—The annual Dollars for ABAC Scholars Benefit Banquet and Show has been a staple of Abraham Baldwin College’s history and a part of the Tifton community since 1972.

When popular recording star Trisha Yearwood takes the stage at the John Hunt Auditorium at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center on May 12 for this year’s show, many ABAC students will benefit by way of student scholarships.

The event actually began as a fundraiser to complete construction on ABAC’s Chapel of All Faiths. Singer Anita Bryant was the first performer.

A year later the purpose of Dollars for ABAC Scholars was changed to raise matching money for the federal student financial aid program. For every dollar raised privately, ABAC received nine dollars in federal financial aid.

In 1987, the benefit’s proceeds transitioned to private scholarships administered by the ABAC Foundation. The federal matching program phased out, but not before the Foundation had raised millions of dollars in federal matching funds, and the federal financial aid program of today was established. In 2005-2006, ABAC students received over $14 million in federal financial aid.

Assistant Director of Development Betty McCorvey said that over the last seven years the scholarship benefit has raised over a quarter of a million dollars for student scholarships. The event was a complete sellout each of those years in the Donaldson Dining Hall.

Performers for Dollars for ABAC Scholars have included Debbie Reynolds, Shirley Jones, Roy Clark, Barbara Mandrell, Louise Mandrell, Marie Osmond, Ricky Van Shelton, Mel Tillis, John Berry and many more.

Tickets for the 2006 event are $75 each. To purchase tickets, interested persons should call (229) 391-4897 or visit the ABAC web site at www.abac.edu. The Foundation has already sold out of the dinner and show tickets, which were priced at $125 each.

“We were surprised to sell the dinner/show combination tickets so rapidly,” McCorvey said. “But we still have over 600 show tickets left, and every seat is a good seat in that auditorium.”

Yearwood is a Monticello, Ga., native who first received radio airplay with “She’s In Love With The Boy” in 1991. Since that time, she has had nine number one hits with such songs as “That’s What I Like About You,” “The Woman Before Me,” “Thinkin’ About You,” and “A Perfect Love.”

McCorvey said that Platinum Scholarship sponsors for the event are Ameris, Kelley Manufacturing, Planttel, and The Stafford Companies.

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