“This is philanthropy at its best,” said Joan Hanten, executive director of the Olympic College Foundation.

As part of their estate plan, the Haselwoods set aside $1 million for the Olympic College library system in the event of either Joanne or Chuck’s death. Chuck Haselwood died in October 2006. The meeting with the Olympic College Foundation board was arranged in March by Joanne Haselwood’s attorney to give the check to the college in a surprise ceremony. Although the meeting had been planned well in advance, no one on the board knew that Haselwood would be in attendance or a substantial gift was going to be made to the college.

“I was shocked,” said Ruth Ross, director of the Haselwood Library, “I had no idea Joanne was delivering a donation to the college.”

The Haselwoods have been longtime financial contributors to the community college. The couple provided the lead philanthropic gift of $250,000 to re-build the Olympic College library on the school’s Bremerton campus after its roof collapsed in a snowstorm in 1996. The Haselwoods then established a permanent endowment for the library in April 2000 — a life-time gift to the college where the fund’s principal is never spent, but the interest generated each year funds specific programs or scholarships.

The Haselwoods’ initial gift of $50,000 to start the endowment in 2000 has been followed each year with an additional $50,000 gift. The Haselwood endowment is designated to keep the library technologically current and its programs educationally robust for the future.

Since its initial annual distribution in 2002, the Haselwood endowment has generated more than $50,000 to fund technology upgrades and create cutting-edge programs in the Haselwood Library, such as upgrading the abilities of the video studio and multimedia lab, purchasing digital online databases for student research needs and purchasing a collection of electronic books, available to students on-demand via the Internet from anywhere around the world.

The recent $1 million donation will go to this existing Haselwood endowment to ensure perpetual funding of the Haselwood Library, and to fund cutting edge technology and library resources for the college’s library system.

The Haselwoods’ financial support of the college is matched only by that of Herbert Goodman, who left Olympic College approximately $1.7 million for student scholarships in 1998. Since 1996, the Haselwoods’ contributions have provided approximately $1.65 million in support of the Olympic College library system.

“The college is focused on creating opportunities for students,” said Hanten. “The generosity of many donors, like the Haselwoods, will make it possible for the college to improve the educational experience and give students more options to pay for their education.”

“We have always been honored and proud to have the Haselwood name on the Olympic College library building,” said Dr David Mitchell, president of Olympic College. “The Haselwoods have given so much to the college over the years and this gift will ensure a lasting legacy of their commitment to education.”.