Waste Industries Founder Jim Perry and Wife Becky Given Philanthropy Award

RALEIGH, N.C. (December 8, 2015) — Former Waste Industries CEO Jim Perry and his wife Becky have received the Benefactor of the Year Award from the Council for Resource Development (CRD) in Washington, DC. The Perrys have been generous supporters of Wake Tech Community College for nearly 20 years. Last year, they presented the college with a gift of $2 million, the largest cash contribution in its history. Wake Tech’s Perry Health Sciences Campus is named in their honor. Jim Perry is a former chairman of the Wake Tech Board of Trustees.

In 1996, Jim Perry established Waste Industries as an annual corporate supporter of Wake Tech Community College. To date, the company’s contributions to the Wake Tech Foundation have topped $250,000, and have funded student scholarships as well as trucks and equipment to enhance training programs for heavy equipment operators and other technicians.

“Becky and I believe whole heartedly in the mission of Wake Tech,” says Perry. “It’s all about lifting students up, enriching their lives, and hopefully making their lives better than they ever thought they could be.”

Perry joined the Wake Tech Board of Trustees in 2002 and spent six years as board chair. He presided over a period of unprecedented growth in which Wake Tech doubled enrollment and became the largest of North Carolina’s 58 community colleges. In 2014, the Perrys wanted to make a larger, more lasting investment in the work of Wake Tech. With Mrs. Perry’s background as a nurse, they decided to focus on Wake Tech’s health sciences programs and donated $2 million to provide scholarships, equipment and training.

“This contribution means so much – to so many,” says Mort Congleton, Executive Vice President, and Executive Director of the Wake Tech Foundation. “It helps students, faculty, and ultimately, the community that will be served by competent, qualified health professionals. We are so grateful to Jim and Becky for their vision.”

“This honor is well deserved,” says Wake Tech President Dr. Stephen Scott, “not just for the Perrys’ generous gift but for their sustained commitment to Wake Tech and its students. We deeply appreciate their loyalty and support.”

“We didn’t do it for the recognition, but it’s nice to know that when you contribute to something, and become a part of something, people recognize that as special,” says Perry. “It’s very important for our family to give back, and there’s no better place to give back to than Wake Tech.”

CRD is an education and networking affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges based in Washington, D.C. It represents community college resource development officers at more than 700 two-year colleges across the country.