What We Fund

• Health Sciences

  The CMC Foundation has been funding our Vocational Nursing (VN) students’ ATI testing, which prepares our students to take the NCLEX, since 2012. Since 2013 the first-time pass rate has been 100%!

  In the 2022-2023 schoolyear, 12 VN students received their tests paid for at a cost of $1440.25 each.

  Recently, CMCF purchased a new Organ Torso, a Heart Lung Breath Simulator, and a Tracheostomy Care Simulator to further give nursing students valuable experience, a goal we will continue to focus on in the future.
• Fire Science PPE

  One of CMCF’s goals is to give back to the community that’s been so gracious to the students and faculty of Copper Mountain College.

  One of the ways they give back to the community is by focusing on public safety through the Fire Technology certificate or associate degree. For the past two years, all our students were successfully employed right after graduation.

  Thanks to Foundation donors, the CMC Fire Technology program is now fitted with new turnout gear. On top of that, the Fire Technology program students can train on their very own fire truck, breathing apparatus, and ambulance.

  This semester, the Copper Mountain College Foundation funded thirteen sets of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), or turnout gear, for the current Fire Academy students at a cost of $500 per student!
• Facilities & Technology

  Helping students attend and receive an education at Copper Mountain is important, but it’s not Copper Mountain College Foundation’s only goal. Keeping our students safe and giving them an accessible education using the most up to date technology is just as important.

  Recently, the CMCF retrofitted the science lab with custom storage to meet both OSHA and ADA standards. Now, CMC professors and students can work in the comfort of their own classrooms with reassurance that their labs are safe and accessible.

  In addition to keeping our students safe, new smart TVs in the classrooms and meeting space have been upgraded thanks to CMCF donors. All this is thanks to generous donors like you.

Scholarships

We are proud to fund scholarships that provide students the ability to attend Copper Mountain College and finish their goals.

• Greenleaf Scholarship

  Since 2002, the Copper Mountain College Foundation has chosen a new Greenleaf Scholar each year to receive a four-year “full ride” scholarship.

  The scholarship, Endowed by local banker F. Roy Greenleaf Jr., fully covers their associate degree at CMC and their bachelor’s degree at a UC or CSU.

  CMC and the CMCF wants students to finish their education and do good in the world. To do so, every student is encouraged to return to the Morongo Basin to support their neighbors right here in our community.

  Mr. Greenleaf’s goal was that “average” students deserve an equal chance at receiving support. It’s why academic excellence or financial need aren’t part of the criteria to be accepted. Instead, he wanted to give to students who wanted to succeed with a desire to care for their families, classmates, and neighbors.

  The only criteria is that the student needs to reside in Morongo Basin, California, and wants to return to the community after they’ve earned their degree.

  Applications open NOW for 2025 Greenleaf Scholar. Deadline 2/28/25 
• George Floyd Scholarship

  On June 2020, CMC Professor of Psychology and Student Success, Kay Jayo-Meads established the George Floyd Scholarship Fund. With her deepest gratitude as a woman of color, who has been helped by many, Professor Jayo-Meads created the scholarship. She, along with CMC, wish to show solidarity to end the inequity in the US and around the world.

  During this time of injustice and unrest we would be remiss not to say something. Now is not the time to be colorblind—now is the time to see color.

  Therefore, to our black community, we see you and we see the experiences you have endured solely because of who you are. We see the centuries of systemic pain and suffering overwhelmingly caused to your community.

  We stand in solidarity with you and support you in your efforts for the change that is desperately needed in our society and in our world.

  It is our job to make sure our students are supported. We have a group that, as a community, as a people, are not being supported in this society. We see it loud and clear in our data across our K-12 and community college systems that black, especially black male students, are continuously and disproportionately impacted in education, and disproportionately targeted beyond the education system.

  We promise that we will do better. As an institution, this is what we will strive to work on:

  • We will acknowledge the lived experiences of our students of color, hear where they’re coming from, and learn from our students just as much as we expect them to learn from us.
  • We will check our unconscious biases at the door, acknowledge them, and work to break through them.
  • We will listen and understand the important experiences our students bring and know that we do not live in a society where everyone is treated equally.
  • We will unify in the fight against racism.

  The killing of George Floyd was not an isolated incident. He is one in a long list of lives unjustly taken. We stand in solidarity with the black community.

  To quote Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

  As individuals that belong to an educational institution, we’re stewards of the most powerful weapon to make things right. We, at Copper Mountain College, are committed to making things right.

  The Copper Mountain College Foundation, along with Ms. Jayo-Meads, honors Mr. Floyd’s memory. Together, we wish to invite all to join in this beautiful scholarship opportunity at our community college.

  Together we stand,

  CMC Faculty, Staff, and Administration
• Sergeant Dominic Vaca Memorial Scholarship

  The Copper Mountain College Foundation is proud to offer the Sergeant Dominic Vaca Memorial Scholarship for Criminal Justice and Administration of Justice majors at CMC.

  Memorial donations from the community poured in when Sergeant Dominic Vaca, a 17-year veteran of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, was shot and killed following a vehicle pursuit of a motorcycle in May 2021.

  The Copper Mountain College Foundation established a scholarship fund for Criminal Justice students when it began receiving funds from fellow officers and friends.

  The application is part of the annual Scholarship Application and is available to current CMC students majoring in Criminal Justice or Administration of Justice with a 3.0 GPA or higher.

  Anyone interested in learning more about Copper Mountain College’s Criminal Justice Program can contact James Brakebill.

  Donations are still being taken in memory of Sergeant Vaca here.

  If you would like to learn more, there are several ways you can contact us:

  Email us:

  Sandy Smith

  Executive Director of the Foundation

  Sara Hutson

  Executive Assistant to the Foundation

  Call us:

  760.366.3791, ext. 5012

  Write us:

  P.O. Box 1398

  Joshua Tree, CA  92252

  Visit us: 

  Copper Mountain College Foundation

  6162 Rotary Way

  Joshua Tree, CA  92252

  The Foundation is located on the CMC main campus Room 116.