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The 11th annual GoodGiving Challenge is underway across central Kentucky, and the Winchester campus of Bluegrass Community and Technical College is one of several local organizations hoping to raise funds for projects designed to benefit the area.

“Bluegrass Community and Technical College is participating with our Winchester campus so that we can raise funds that go directly back to students,” said the campus director, Bruce Manley. “This year, our funds are going to fund a dual credit scholarship called the Degree Before Diploma Scholarship.”

Dual credit courses allow high school students to simultaneously earn credits to finish their high school diploma and start banking university hours before they matriculate to an institution of higher learning.

Manley said that BCTC Winchester wants to offer George Rogers Clark High School juniors and seniors the opportunity to earn not one but two degrees by the time their high schools days conclude.

“We want students to be a part of taking as many dual credit classes as possible in order to get a two-year associate’s degree before they graduate with their high school diploma,” he said.

Students who take dual credit courses have already met the mandated benchmarks in reading, writing and math. Taking such classes not only gives them an academic boost but a financial one as well.

“Dual credit tuition is a lot more reasonable than paying full tuition when you get to college, so it is a big savings,” Manley said.

BCTC wants to fund 50 students this year and has a goal fundraising goal of $15,000 for the challenge, but they have a far more ambitious aim for the future.

“Our goal would be to fund every single student that takes a dual credit class, that’s our ultimate goal, but that’s going to take a lot of money,” Manley said.

The challenge started on Tuesday and concludes next week on Dec. 6. The Blue Grass Community Foundation and Smiley Pete Publishing sponsor the friendly capital raising competition for organizations that invest in their community. Winchester has 27 organizations that are participating besides the community and technical college, and all donations to them will be matched.

“The Clark County Community Foundation has put a dollar for dollar match for all Winchester non-profits that raise money that goes back into this community,” Manley said.

For a complete list of participating organizations, interested donors should visit www.bggives.org and search using area code 40391.