Elizabeth City, NC — Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) is proud to announce the establishment of the Family Fare Endowed Entrepreneurship Program Fund, with a gift from Family Fare Convenience Stores in the amount of $100,000. The endowment is designed to support experiential learning opportunities for students in the university’s business school. Family Fare recently opened a new store at 1008 US 17 South, less than 10 minutes from ECSU.
Family Fare’s President, Lee Barnes, explained that “the endowed fund will support hands-on entrepreneurial activities, including student competitions, guest speakers, faculty engagement and the potential development of an entrepreneur-in-residence program.” The initiative is intended to strengthen real-world learning experiences and better prepare students for careers in business and innovation.
“Opportunities like this give our students a chance to do more than learn business; they get to experience it,” said Chancellor S. Keith Hargrove, Sr. “When students can apply what they’re learning in real time, it builds confidence and helps them see what’s possible for their future. We are grateful for this endowed gift from Family Fare and excited to watch what happens for students when learning, engagement and innovation intersect through entrepreneurship.”
Unlike traditional scholarship-based gifts, the fund will focus exclusively on student experiential learning, ensuring the university directs the resources toward immersive, skill-building opportunities inside and outside the classroom.
To make an even greater impact, the university will match the donation through federal Title III funding, which will double the gift's amount. As a permanent endowment, the fund will continue to generate support for entrepreneurial programming in perpetuity, creating sustained opportunities for ECSU students.
During the check presentation at Family Fare preceding the chancellor’s installation weekend, Barnes and Hargrove agreed that partnerships like this reflect a shared purpose between Family Fare and ECSU, and a clear commitment to student success that will play a key role in advancing the institution’s academic and community impact moving forward.