Members of the Houston CPA Society, a chapter of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants, will honor their 30-year executive director Nancy Rutledge and her husband Dick during the 23rd annual Scholarship Extravaganza.
The event will take place Saturday, Jan. 17, at the J. W. Marriott Hotel, 5150 Westheimer in Houston. The event will begin with a reception and heavy hors d’oeuvres at 7 p.m., followed by a casino night and silent auction.
Funds raised during the annual extravaganza benefit society scholarship programs. Event chair and former society president Don Clanton, along with former president Patrick Durio, had already raised cash or commitments of $131,200 for society scholarships heading into the holidays.
Recipients of previous scholarships have been invited to attend this year’s event, which has also attracted the largest committee ever to work on the event. The committee includes numerous past presidents and former charity event chairs.
“The current financial crisis only means that more students will need financial aid,” Clanton noted. “”Not only will we be helping future leaders of our profession, but we get to honor Nancy, who has helped to make the Society and all of us successful.”
Clanton added that he agreed to chair the event primarily because Nancy Rutledge was an honoree.
He noted that when Rutledge became executive director of the Houston CPA Society 30 years ago, the organization had a $137,000 budget and 3000 members. Today, the society has a budget in excess of a $1 million and membership of 8,000.
During her tenure, Rutledge has helped 30 volunteer presidents, and countless committee chairs in an organization with 36 committees.
Rutledge has also served as president of the Houston Society of Association Executives in the1981 and on the board of the Texas Society of Association Executives. She biked in the MS150 for years and continues to be a walker in the Susan B. Komen Race for the Cure, which became one of her charities after her own round with breast cancer in 1997.
Her husband Dick is a retired commercial real estate professional who currently serves on the board of directors for Fun Football, Inc., a league that largely serves African-American and Hispanic youth, the majority of whom come from single-parent families. He also coached the Bellaire Bears, one of five Fun Football teams.
Previous charity extravaganzas have raised more than $2 million for charitable causes over the past 21 years. This will be the third year that the net proceeds will be divided between the Accounting Scholarship Fund, which will receive 80 percent, and CPAs Helping Schools, which will receive 20 percent.
Last year’s casino night netted $146,000 for 44 accounting scholarships and another $43,254 for CPAs Helping Schools initiatives in Kindergarten through Grade 12. CPAs Helping Schools projected included project grants, Junior Achievement scholarships and underwriting a Fund for Teachers Fellowship.
Scholarship candidates must be full-time students with a grade point average of at least 3.25 in accounting and 3.0 overall, have at least 12 hours in accounting courses and declared accounting as a major. They must also have a demonstrated financial need, meet ethics and citizenship requirements and be students at one of the eight universities and colleges in the society’s membership area.
The eight schools are Houston Baptist University, University of Houston – Central Campus, University of Houston – Clear Lake, University of Houston – Downtown, Prairie View A & M, St. Thomas University, Sam Houston State University and Texas Southern University.
Underwriting sponsorship levels for the Society’s Scholarship Extravaganza start at $5,000, enabling each underwriter to attend a ceremony to present a student with his or her award and to hang a plaque in a student area with the sponsor’s name.
Summa cum Laude donors giving more than $20,000 may designate the school whose students receive the scholarships.
A Supporter level is offered at $500.
Packages with tickets to the charity event begin at $1000 and individual tickets may be purchased for $150.
For information, call 713-622-7733 or go to the society’s website at www.HoustonCPA.org.
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