A $1 million gift to Iowa Central Community College will help students who are the first members of their family to go to college.

Bill Greehey, former chief executive officer of Valero Energy Corp. and a Fort Dodge native, delivered the funds in person Friday afternoon on behalf of the Greehey Family Foundation.

The gift will provide scholarships for first-generation students who may not otherwise be able to attend, said ICCC President Dan Kinney.

“It’s a wonderful gift. It’s really going to make an impact on our students,” Kinney added. “We really thank Mr Greehey for everything he’s done.”

“It’s an investment in the future,” Greehey said. “It’s giving back.”

“This is a huge gift for Iowa Central,” added Jim Kersten, the college’s vice president of external affairs.

This is one of the largest cash gifts that has ever been given to Iowa Central, Kinney said.

The scholarships created from this will go to students who are the first in their family to attend college, like Greehey was himself.

“I came from a poor family on the east side of town. My mother had about an eighth-grade education. My dad had 10th-grade education,” Greehey said. “Education was not their highest priority.

“They didn’t have money to send me to college, so I joined the Air Force, and went to college on the GI bill, parked cars at the hospital, worked my way through college,” he added.

Sometimes first-generation students don’t have the support they need at home, Kinney said, and getting through the financial aid process can be challenging.

“One of the things we want to do at Iowa Central,” Kinney said, “is to keep the costs down, keep it affordable. Unfortunately the cost of education has risen quite a bit over the last number of years. The No. 1 debt right now is student debt.

“With this donation we’ll be able to help students take out less loans, or maybe not even need a loan. Because of his generosity we’ll be able to provide those students with scholarships.”

Greehey’s foundation provides first-generation scholarships for every university in San Antonio, Texas, and nearby, Greehey said. It also has donated more than $25 million to his alma mater, St. Mary’s University in San Antonio.

“Our foundation has given well over $100 million since it was set up in 2006,” he said.

Greehey was chairman and CEO of Valero Energy Corp. from its inception in 1980 until he retired as CEO in January 2006, and as chairman in January 2007.

Greehey is now chairman of the board of NuStar Energy LP, which was once known as Valero LP, and of NuStar GP Holdings LLC, both based in San Antonio.

Valero has had a presence in the Fort Dodge area since 2009, when it took over the former VeraSun facility west of Fort Dodge in the ag-industrial park called Iowa’s Crossroads of Global Innovation.

“This is just huge for the college. It’s huge for the region,” Kinney said. “What’s great about it is it’s someone who came from Fort Dodge, giving back to help people succeed and go through college.”

Greehey still has family in town, including his sister Mildred “Keeka” Lynch, whom he was visiting on Friday, Kinney added.

“This guy left Fort Dodge, but he really remembers his roots,” he said.