If you want something done, help make it happen.
“We want to see the high school finished in our lifetime,” said Savannah philanthropist Dick Eckburg on a cool Monday morning sitting at his dining room table in December 2005. As Mrs. Eckburg stepped into the kitchen to bring refreshments to friends SCPS Headmaster Roger Yancey, Board Chairman Bill Daniel, Major Gifts Campaign Chair Danny Falligant, and Director of Institutional Advancement Lynn Lewis, Mr. Eckburg continued, “So, we have decided to give a $5,000,000 matching gift to Savannah Christian Preparatory School – $1,000,000 per year – over the next five years.”
That’s right, for every $1,000,000 raised over the next five years, the Eckburg’s will match it – dollar for dollar.
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| Dick and Judy Eckburg at SCAD's Smithfield Cottage, Summer 2005 |
Just over two years prior, the Eckburgs had pledged a $1,000,000 matching gift to help jump-start our 2003-06 $3,000,000 Generation-to-Generation Capital Campaign. Organized to help fund Chatham Parkway campus redevelopment projects – including a 56,000 square foot Athletic/Fine Arts complex (currently under construction and scheduled for completion early in 2007), new upper school baseball and soccer fields and parking lot, and a new four-lane entrance road – the campaign reached the initial goal in March 2004 and eventually raised more than $3,415,000.
Headmaster Roger Yancey remembers the moment he first heard about the Eckburgs. “While sharing our dreams and plans with Walter Lewis, Walter told me about a couple in Savannah that I needed to meet.” After meeting Mr. Yancey, visiting our campus and website, reading “Miracles in My Life,” and finding out that J. C. Lewis planned to donate $500,000 toward our initial campus redevelopment work, the Eckburg’s leaped into Savannah Christian lore with the largest donation in the history of the school.
Savannah residents since 1986, the Eckburg’s have invested significant leadership and resources in their adopted hometown through a number of Savannah organizations, including the Savannah College of Art and Design, Bethesda Home for Boys, Savannah Technical College, the Lucas Theatre, the Telfair Museum of Art, the Savannah Music Festival, the Salvation Army, St. Paul’s CME Church and School, the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum, and the Two Hundred Club of the Coastal Empire.
Mr. Eckburg also serves on the Board of Directors of Suntrust Bank, Savannah, as well as the Board of Trustees of the Media Research Center – the nation's largest and most sophisticated television monitoring operation. The Eckburgs sponsor the American Traditions Competition – part of the 15-day Savannah Music Festival.
Mr. Eckburg grew up in Amboy, Illinois. “I was born in 1931, during the Great Depression, and my family was poor, but we kids didn't know that. Our parents instilled in us the attitude that hard work, honesty and dedication were their own rewards. With the right attitude, we would not only succeed, but we would find happiness in what we were doing . . .”
Following military service in the Army during the Korean War, Eckburg worked for the United Parcel Service (UPS) as a delivery truck driver for $1.75 per hour. He rose through the ranks to District Manager for the State of Florida, then manager of Chicago area operations, and retired as Vice President of Public Affairs after thirty-two years at UPS. He served with distinction on the executive committee of the American Trucking Association and has been described as “one of the leading executives in the U.S. transportation industry” (U. S. Congressional Record, 1986, Congressman John Rowland of Connecticut).
Dick has two daughters and four grandchildren. He and his wife, Judy, have been married since 1967. Judy grew up in Vero Beach, Florida, is a graduate of Florida State University, and worked in Executive sales for Delta Airlines. Both avid golfers, Mr. Eckburg is a member of the Georgia State Golf Association 2005 Hole-in-one Club for his June 16th, 2005 173-yard shot on Hole 4 at The Landings Club Marshwood course. He received an honorary Doctor of Humanities degree from SCAD in 2003.
The Eckburgs hope their generosity and commitment will help others have the vision to see, faith to believe and courage to act. “We challenge others to see all the possibilities available to Savannah Christian students.”
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