Evangel, SBU awarded hundreds of thousands in funding

Evangel and Southwest Baptist universities recently received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of funding from the same foundation.

Evangel
The Springfield university announced yesterday a $300,000 grant from The Sunderland Foundation.

With the grant, Evangel over the summer upgraded roughly 800 lighting units to LED at two of its six residence halls, as well as the Kendrick Library. Plumbing fixtures in all of Lewis Hall’s 91 bathrooms — along with Kendrick — also were upgraded to be more efficient. The work came after a 2018 energy audit by Evangel and Energy Solutions Professionals found areas on campus where work could be done to reduce energy usage and water waste, according to a news release.

“Thanks to the Sunderland grant money, we were able to complete several projects this summer, and we are already experiencing significant savings,” said Brian Hauff, director of facilities for Evangel, in the release.

The Sunderland Foundation-funded improvements are expected to result in annual savings of $26,602.

The Overland Park, Kansas-based Sunderland Foundation focuses on providing funding for higher education, health care and other industries, specifically for construction projects. The foundation in 2018 awarded $105.6 million in grants, according to the release.

Evangel is fundraising for additional energy-efficient projects on campus.

“When the Sustainability Renovation Project is completed, 18 of Evangel’s buildings will be impacted, and emissions will be reduced by an amount equal to the electricity usage of 403 homes each year,” Hauff said in the release.

SBU
The Sunderland Foundation also presented $500,000 to Bolivar-based SBU, according to a separate news release.

The funding is earmarked for parking lot expansions and concrete repairs.

“The Sunderland Foundation’s most-recent gift is the second $500,000 gift to the university in as many years to assist with concrete projects,” said Brad Johnson, vice president for university relations at SBU, in the release.

Presented in June, the funding has been used to eliminate 224 trip hazards on campus walkways and replace certain parking lots and sidewalks. A new parking lot on the north side of SBU’s McClelland Dining Facility is in the planning stages.