The Margaret McLamb Grimsby Trust recently made a generous donation of $1,022,039.67 to the university.

The funds will go towards establishing The Margaret McLamb Grimsby and Eva Bradford Scholarship for need-based students, and the Margaret McLamb Grimsby and Eva Bradford Endowed Chair in Industrial Engineering.

Members of the Grimsby family officially presented the check to Francis Marion University President Dr. Fred Carter on Oct. 21, in hopes that the money will be used for causes that the late Margaret McLamb Grimsby believed in.

“She was a woman who had an appreciation in the state regional university in her area,” Carter said. “She cared enough about the value of education to essentially give us over a million dollars.”

100 thousand dollars of the donation will go towards establishing the industrial engineering chair, while the remaining funds will be used for a need-based scholarship, Carter explained.

The Grimsby-Bradford Scholarship is designed to assist a broad spectrum of future FMU students that display financial needs. Residents of the Pee Dee will be given preference in receiving the awards, and the scholarships will be given annually, but repeat awards are allowed. Recipients must maintain a grade point average of 2.5 or higher.

The gift stems from Grimsby’s passion for helping others and the dedication she had to seeing others thrive during difficult times.

Although Carter didn’t know Grimsby personally, through conversations with her family he knew the type of person she was. She worked in social services and invested her money in intelligent, and profitable ideas.

It was apparent that her primary passion in life was helping others and seeing people that have fallen on harder time persevere.

Grimsby was not an FMU alumnus, she was, however, proud to see several family members receive their degrees from FMU. She always strongly believed in the value of higher education and wanted to give back to the community that she called home for so many years.

Carter said that he spoke with Grimsby’s son and he believed that his mother always demanded that her investments should bring positive returns. A donation to the college and the establishment of a need-based scholarship will help countless students that are in need of financial help.

“She felt that if she invested her trust in education, there would always be an appreciable returns coming back to the community,” Carter said.

Since many FMU students are first generation college participants, Carter explained, donations like this not only affect those directly involved but may provide lasting opportunities.

Carter believes that generous donors, like Grimsby, are truly passionate about their community and personally invested in helping and devoting their life to other.

“The most compelling point that I can make about this … is that she saw the impact that education was having on her Pee Dee region, on the community of Florence and surrounding areas,” Carter said. “That’s why her gift is so uniquely important to this university.”