What started back in 2007 is getting a second wind of recognition thanks to the recent movie Ford vs. Ferrari. Carroll Shelby is one of the biggest names in automotive history and he came from a small town called Leesburg in East Texas.
The Ford vs. Ferrari movie has once again brought the legend of Carrol Shelby into the spotlight. What many might not know however is that Carroll Shelby is single handedly responsible for a fantastic automotive program at Northeast Texas Community College (NTCC) in Mt. Pleasant, TX which is very close to where Shelby grew up as a young boy.
NTCC is the only school in the world that bears the name Carroll Shelby Automotive. Wanting to give back to his East Texas community, Carroll Shelby contacted his friend Dr. Jon McCullough, Executive Vice President at NTCC, and through their discussions Mr. Shelby decided to begin donating $50,000 per year to NTCC for an automotive program that would teach students about the automotive industry.
To put things in perspective, $50,000 per year is enough to put 20 students through school at NTCC. Not only are these students learning invaluable knowledge about cars, but Shelby Automotive students were also invited to SEMA, the world’s premier automotive trade show. The students proudly represented a project car they had all been building. It’s a 1965 Mustang R-Model and they did an impressive job with it.
Since 2007, Mr. Shelby’s donations add up more than $900,000 to NTCC. His generosity makes certain the Carroll Shelby Automotive Program and its students are setup for success. Check out the full interview and story from CBS19 as they cover the incredible generosity of Carroll Shelby and the eternally grateful students at Northeast Texas Community College.