LANSING - Lansing area building trades union members will help children facing personal and economic obstacles attend Lansing Community College by donating five cents per hour, per worker, to the Helping Other People Excel (HOPE) Scholarship Program.

The workers toil on any City of Lansing project that includes a Project Labor Agreement.

"Our members believe in giving back to the community they serve," said Jeff Cole, field representative for the Michigan State Building and Construction Trades Council. "Mayor Hollister championed the HOPE Scholarship Program to give all of Lansing's kids a chance for a successful future, and the hardworking men and women of the building trades are proud to help Lansing's kids succeed."

Lansing Mayor David Hollister recognized Cole and all members of the Lansing area building trades on stage during Hollister's State of the City address held Monday, Jan. 27, saying, "Our friends in the skilled trades have agreed to dedicate five cents per hour, per worker on any City project that includes a Project Labor Agreement. Our union workforce has created a perpetual funding source for HOPE."

The HOPE Scholarship Program is a partnership between the Lansing Police Department, the City of Lansing, the Lansing School District and Lansing Community College in which 500 students per year facing personal and economic obstacles - identified by Lansing School District administrators - receive two year's free tuition at Lansing Community College provided they graduate from high school. Through an endowment fund at the Capital Region Community Foundation, program officials have raised $1.9 million of the $2.5 million required to allow the program to continue in perpetuity.

THE HOPE Scholarship contributions from the building trades were recognized at Lansing Mayor David Hollister's State of the City address. Shown here (l-r) are Dennis W. Fliehman, president of the Capital Region Community Foundation, Jeff Cole, field rep. for the Michigan State Building and Construction Trades Council, HOPE scholars T'Shara Lynch and Timothy Newby, Lansing School District Supt. Dr. E. Sharon Banks and Mayor Hollister.