HISTORY AND ORGANIZATION

• Formed originally as Friends of Copper Mountain College, the Foundation received its tax exempt determination (501.c.3) from the IRS in 1981.
   
• 1981-83: The Friends raised money to pay for construction of the first phase of Copper Mountain Campus, College of the Desert, in Joshua Tree, California. Then-President Ronald Reagan was so impressed by this self-help initiative that he awarded the Friends his Volunteer Action Award for 1984.
   
• Through the following 20 years, the Friends collected donations, mainly from local residents, and disbursed cash through the College  for continuing expansion of the campus. Examples of expenditures: landscaping plan and all landscaping; expansion of parking lot with energy efficient lighting; construction of warehouse; $200,000 for purchase of books, periodicals, and media equipment for new campus library.
   
• In 1999, Copper Mountain Campus separated from College of the Desert, Palm Desert, and, through state legislation, formed the new Copper Mountain Community College District. Copper Mountain College obtained its own full accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges in June 2001, at which time Friends of CMC changed its name to Copper Mountain College Foundation to better describe its heightened responsibility.