Dr. Harris Presents $50,000 to CCCKC -- and a Challenge
Dr. William M. Harris, a chiropractic philanthropist extraodinaire whose generosity is becoming legendary, gave a donation of $50,000 to Cleveland Chiropractic College of Kansas City (CCCKC) during the college's homecoming celebration October 22-25. Dr. Harris also challenged the CCCKC Alumni Association to raise $50,000 by January 15, 1993. If CCCKC attains that lofty figure, he will donate an additional $25,000 to CCCKC.
"Dr. Harris' gift represents the largest single donation in the college's history," said CCCKC President Carl S. Cleveland III. "I am confident that Cleveland alumni and friends will rally to meet this challenge and that the alumni association will reach its $50,000 goal by January 15th."
It was 14 years ago that Dr. Harris founded FACE as a non-profit extension of Practice Consultants. Because of his early struggle in practice, Dr. Harris was determined to establish a foundation with proceeds principally going to create chairs in practice and business management at chiropractic colleges.
Since then, FACE has broadened its funding scope to include chiropractic research projects and the construction of academic buildings. A recent example of FACE dollars directed towards research is the $100,000 to the National Institute of Chiropractic Research (NICR), which he gave with the pledge that if the NICR could raise an equal amount by January 15, 1993, he would match the contribution. (Please see the Nov. 6, 1992 issue of "DC," and the graph on page five of this issue that depicts NICR's progress towards matching Dr. Harris' contribution.)
Dr. Harris' most bountiful donation was $1 million to a center for clinical studies at Northwestern College of Chiropractic. The center was named the Wolf-Harris Clinic in May 1991, dedicated to NWCC's founder and first president Dr. Jack Wolf, and to its benefactor Dr. Harris.
The FACE donations are all derived from the income of Practice Consultants. "I worked eight years without a salary," Dr. Harris revealed, "and then started at $45,000, so you can see how strong is my belief in chiropractic research."
Dr. Harris estimates that FACE gives a mean average of $1,000 a day to chiropractic projects. "The funds are generated carefully from investment profits," he explains, and "we never draw from the principal."
Dr. Harris clearly has a philosophy of giving something back to his profession, best described in his own words: "Just think what would happen if every chiropractor would give three percent of his income back to FACE, or some other non-profit organization. It is hard for me to understand why every chiropractor doesn't give back to fertilize the soil whence cometh his crop."
