Local students Sadie Struble, Elijah Allen and Kimberly Hughes were recently awarded scholarships through The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina.
Struble of Mitchell High, the top recipient, was awarded the Charles C. and Suzanne R. McKinney Scholarship valued at $20,000 over four years. Allen, also of Mitchell High, and Hughes, of Mayland, were also awarded scholarships.
The three local scholarships are part of $558,000 of awards from CFWNC to 96 Western North Carolina students in 53 schools in 19 counties.
More than 60 volunteers from the community worked to review applications and select recipients.
Scholarship endowments can have broad eligibility criteria or can be focused on a particular school or county, offered to students pursuing a degree in a stated field or available to those who will attend a designated college or university.
“Being able to volunteer as a member of a CFWNC scholarship committee has been immensely rewarding,” said Leslie Berry, a volunteer reviewer for the Irving Jacob Reuter Award. “I feel particularly invested in the process, as I attended WNC public schools myself and now my husband, Hal, and I have children in our public school system.
“After reviewing these scholarship students through the lens of an alumnus, a parent, and, now, a committee member, I can honestly say the caliber of students in our area is extraordinary and we, as a community, should be extremely proud to recognize and celebrate them.”
CFWNC works with families, businesses and nonprofits to strengthen communities by creating charitable funds and strategic grantmaking.
A permanent charitable resource, the Foundation manages over 1,200 funds and facilitated $34 million in grants last year bringing total giving to more than $362 million since its founding in 1978.
Learn more at cfwnc.org.