Clay Walker to Headline Stepping Out for COD

Multi-platinum, Awar-winning Superstar Clay Walker to Headline Stepping Out for COD 2024

PALM DESERT — Multi-platinum-selling country superstar Clay Walker will headline the COD Foundation’s most important fundraiser of the year on Thursday, April 4, The College of the Desert (COD) Foundation announced Wednesday.

Presented by The Greene Family Foundation & James and Jessica Greene, Stepping Out for COD 2024 will celebrate the COD Foundation’s 40th Anniversary and benefit its Fund for Student Success.

Clay Walker has garnered 11 No.1 songs, 32 charted singles, four Recording Industry Association of America albums, and two Certified GOLD albums. He received a Grammy Award nomination for Best Country Vocal Performance for his single “What’s It to You.” He was nominated for four Academy of Country Music (ACM) Awards for Top New Male Vocalist, Album of the Year, Single Record of the Year, and Song of the Year.

He is widely recognized as a country music staple with songs like “If I Could Make A Living,” “This Woman And This Man,” “Live Until I Die,” and “She Won’t Be Lonely Long.”

“We are excited that Clay Walker will headline COD Foundation’s most impactful fundraiser of the year. College of the Desert is a treasured and essential asset to our Coachella Valley,” Stepping Out co-chairs Norma Casteneda and Jenell VanDenBos said in a statement. “The support of our sponsors, donors, and community initiates a profound ripple effect, empowering students who are struggling with paying tuition, while also managing the high cost of housing, transportation, childcare, and food insecurity.

Many students are just one check engine light away from abandoning their educational goals. Your
generous gifts have a resounding impact, strengthening the infrastructure of our local economy and making a significant difference between a student dropping out or receiving a diploma.”

For 40 years, the COD Foundation has raised more than $113 million to support student enrichment programs and services.

Today, nearly two-thirds of COD students qualify for some form of financial assistance, but traditional scholarship support rarely extends to cover all core essentials students need to succeed. The COD Foundation’s Fund for Student Success helps to fill in the remaining gaps by assisting students with additional financial support for necessities like books, supplies, childcare, and more.

In a statement, COD Foundation Board Chair Diane Rubin said, “When we provide comprehensive access to education and support significant financial barriers to learning, we are not only transforming individual lives but producing a professional workforce to strengthen our Valley’s social and economic infrastructure. We believe that no student should miss out on a class or find they are unable to complete an assignment due to a lack of books, technology, or transportation.”

For more than 60 years, COD has made it possible for local students to pursue their academic dreams. In turn, these students become skilled nurses, firefighters, EMTs, chefs, hoteliers, architects, entrepreneurs, and business leaders of 125,000 alumni strong, who give back to our community, as well as generating over $400 million annually to our local economy.

Stepping Out for COD 2024 will be held on Thursday, April 4, at 8 p.m. at The Show at Agua Caliente Rancho Mirage.

Sponsorship opportunities are now available and individual tickets are on sale now. To sponsor visit CODFoundation.org or call (760) 773-2561.