NOVA Educational Foundation receives $1M donation

Donation from alumni Debra Coffman Howe will go to nursing

Published April 2, 2020 by Sydney Lake

The Northern Virginia Community College Educational Foundation (NOVA Foundation) announced Thursday it has received a $1 million donation from Debra Coffman Howe of Palm Beach, Florida. The funding will go to Howe’s existing endowment fund for NOVA nursing student scholarships and also to the NOVA COVID-19 Emergency Student Aid Fund. 

Howe was a NOVA nursing student and reached a point where financially she could not afford to finish her associate degree in science, according to NOVA. After consulting with a NOVA nursing instructor, she was notified that her current year tuition and books had been paid for by an anonymous donor. She eventually earned her bachelor’s degree from St. Joseph University in Windham, Maine.   

She is currently the managing partner and president of Airamid Health Services and Kaine Financial Services in West Palm Beach.  

“I was able to fulfill my dreams thanks to the dedicated faculty, staff and donors at NOVA.  I will never forget the relief and gratitude for those who allowed me to focus on moving forward,” Howe said in a statement. “NOVA was truly my launching pad to a very successful career in healthcare and I am happy that I am now in a position to ‘give back’ to other hard working and focused NOVA students.”

The NOVA Foundation was founded in 1979 and funds more than 300 scholarships, emergency aid grants and academic programs.

“Debra Coffman Howe is an outstanding example of the power and impact of NOVA’s alumni – not just here in Northern Virginia but throughout the U.S.,” said NOVA President Anne Kress. “I am grateful that our alumni continue to invest in NOVA though our Foundation.”