Missouri Valley College (MVC) has announced the Sunderland Foundation has approved a grant request for $300,000 to support the construction of a new health professions building on the MVC campus.

MVC plans to build a 16,300 square foot facility. The building is designed to be used not only for nursing classes, but also available for health-related programs that will be developed in the future. Fitzgibbon Hospital has provided the space that has housed the MVC School of Nursing for several years, but according to the college the program has outgrown the space. MVC has plans to break ground in the coming weeks.

The Sunderland Foundation had previously approved a $1 million grant to the college which will also to be used to support construction of the building.

The Sunderland Foundation was established in 1945 by Lester T. Sunderland who served as President of the Ash Grove Cement Company for 33 years. The Foundation which is led by Sunderland’s descendants, focuses primarily on supporting construction projects and awarding grants to nonprofits in the Kansas City region and other markets traditionally served by the Ash Grove Cement Company.