IVCC extends ag center fundraising, hoping to spare reserve funds

Illinois Valley Community College has reached the $2.5 million fundraising goal for its new agricultural education center, and now it’s asking the community to help cover the rest of the bill, according to a news release.More than 60 donors helped the college’s foundation hit its primary Ag Forward goal for the Dr. Alfred E. Wisgoski Agricultural Education Center, Foundation Executive Director Tracy Beattie said in the release, support she called critical to meeting unmet need from escalating construction costs.Donations from early supporters, businesses and community partners, combined with federal and state grants, covered a portion of the construction costs. The college had expected to supply the balance from its reserve funds.The campaign’s newest phase, Growing Together for Our Future, is meant to reduce that reliance on reserves, which the college said has kept it fiscally stable through a century of operation.“The current estimate is that about $1.8 million will still be needed