There really are good people in the world who will go out of their way to help others — people like Chris and Jenette Meldrum.

N.C. Central University recently discovered this good news when it became the first, and still the only, HBCU to receive scholarship funds from the Meldrum Foundation.

The foundation, based in Salt Lake City, was created by Peter Meldrum, president and CEO of Myriad Genetics, a biopharmaceutical company.

The $100,000 donation will become the Christopher S. Meldrum Scholarship. Beginning next fall, it will fund a chemistry student’s education at $3,000 per year.

The Meldrum Foundation has given money to schools in Utah, but this is the first time it has donated to a school in North Carolina.

The Meldrums, directors of the foundation, moved to Durham seven years ago.

“We had driven past the campus of NCCU on several occasions, and my husband and I saw the different developments,” said Jenette Meldrum. “We just wanted to somehow be a part of what was going on.”

The Meldrums, both science majors in college, said they were interested in the science programs at NCCU, so they contacted Randal Childs, NCCU director of major gifts.

“I first spoke with Chris back in October, and he told me that they were extremely impressed with NCCU’s renewed interest in the sciences,” said Childs, who invited the Meldrums to visit the campus.

But just wanting to help NCCU wasn’t all the Meldrums had to do — they had to get the other members of the foundation board to buy into their idea.

“When my son Chris first came to me and said that he wanted to donate to NCCU, I was excited,” said Peter Meldrum. “I strongly feel that if you are in a position to make a difference, you totally have an obligation to do so.”

Peter Meldrum’s wife, Katherine, bought into the idea too.

“It was clear to us from the start that NCCU needed our help much more than Duke and some of the other schools,” Katherine said.

Childs said that the kind of support NCCU has received is exactly the kind of support the University needs.

“Chris and Jenette are really good people ... it truly says a lot about their character,” Childs said. “I just hope that other people in the Durham community will follow in their footsteps.”