The Arts Association is pleased to announce the largest gift made in the history of the organization.

BB&T Corporation recently made a $100,000 gift to establish an endowment for the Arts Association to ensure the viability and stability of the organization for the benefit of the community and region. In addition to their endowment gift, BB&T is the largest corporate donor to the Arts Association's annual programming and operating budget which now exceeds $450,000. BB&T annually gives $15,000 as a member of the Platinum Circle of donors.

"BB&T's leadership in community development through its substantial gifts to the arts affirms the larger bank's commitment to true 'community' banking," said Buncie Hay Lanners, executive director for the Arts Association. "Their gifts enable our organization to maximize our resources in providing exposure to all of the arts for the benefit of youth and adults in our community."

Lanners added that the endowment gift enhances the viability of the Arts Association's programs for the long-term and thus is a special gift to the young artists programs.

"Impacting children's lives through the arts gives them passion and discipline that prepares them for life's challenges and often helps break cycles by providing hope," Lanners said. " With this $100,000, we can say to the community and region that our programs are here to stay, and the children and families of this community today and tomorrow can count on these programs to be here and to be of the high quality that they have come to expect."

The presentation of the endowment gift and check was made at a rehearsal for Oxford Singing Children, the oldest of the Arts Association's Young Artists programs. OSC is made of 65 auditioned children in grades 4-7. Thirty percent of the participants are scholarship recipients, many identified by their school's music teachers as children with unusual musical potential.

Oxford Singing Children is under the artistic direction of Mary Lynn Luke and Eva Bone. The Young Artists Program director for the Arts Association is Abigail Morgan Coggin.

Presenting the check for BB&T was Scott White, city executive for Covington and Cathy Laseter, relationship banker at the Main Office on the square and the mother of two Oxford Singing Children participants Julianna and Catherine.

If you have questions about the programs and services of the Arts Association, becoming a donor to its annual programs or including the Arts Association in your estate planning to assist in growing its endowment, please call the Arts Association office at (770) 786-8188 or visit them online at www.newtoncountyarts.org.