Since 2002, the Kosciusko County Community Foundation has awarded $1.8 million in scholarships.
This year alone, more than $402,000 was given.
"Each scholarship has its own story, and in each story, the common thread is people wanted to help others," said Executive Director Suzi Light in an interview Tuesday afternoon.
For 2009, there were 4,512 applications processed and 333 individual applicants. A total of 369 scholarships were awarded by the foundation, with 210 individual scholarships. There were 199 volunteers who served on scholarship committees.Scholarships ranged from $100 to $6,000, and the average amount per individual was more than $1,900.
Applying for the scholarships were students from Warsaw, Wawasee, Tippecanoe Valley, Whitko, Lakeland Christian Academy, Triton, NorthWood, Manchester and other high schools.
Light said some scholarships are very specific on what they are awarded for, so students apply for those if it's in their field of study. Other scholarships are very broad. Students often apply for more than one, and may be awarded several.
For the 2009 scholarships, 182 were awarded to high school students, and 187 were awarded to college students.
Most area high schools have a scholarship award night. Scholarships to college students are mailed.
The foundation typically sends a staff or board member to the scholarship award ceremonies. Lake City Bank and First Source Bank also send a representative to hand out their awards.
"At every high school award celebration," said Light, "the emcees usually make a point of saying how generous our community is in supporting kids."
One such example is the Ralph and Lucetta Frantz Scholarship. Light said Ralph and Lucetta were a brother and sister who lived on a Kosciusko County farm. When Ralph died, the charitable remainder trust he created for Lucetta allowed her a life income. At her death, four organizations received funding, including the KCCF, which created the endowment fund. The fund has now given away more than the original gift.
Light said Lucetta taught Sunday school for 68 years. Whenever she tells that story, Light said, the kids usually gasp. Telling the stories about the people who establish scholarship is so much fun, Light said. Scholarships are the donors' legacies, how their names live on.
The Ruth Ladd Medical Scholarship Fund was named after the daughter of a local doctor. Her father used to make house calls in his horse and buggy. After he died, Ruth Ladd drove the horse and buggy. When she died, she left a medical scholarship to enable recipients to continue their educational careers.
Light said people often ask her if it's true that scholarship money goes unused every year. "Not in this county," Light said. Applicants apply for every dollar available.
Donors can be very specific about the kind of scholarship they want to set up, but they have to meet a charitable class of people, Light said. For example, a person can say they want to award a scholarship to someone in the band, but they can't be too specific and say they want to award it to a tuba player only. They can make a scholarship for someone on the basketball team, but can't single out the point guard.
Light said some people say it's a lot of work to apply for scholarships. However, if a person puts 10 hours into their scholarship application and they receive a $500 scholarship, they earned $50 per hour.
Some scholarships are awarded instead of applied for. The Sarah Hogan Memorial Award for Mental Attitude is recommended by the Warsaw Community High School choir department. The award was created to honor the memory of Sarah Hogan.
Light advises students not to wait until their senior year to start preparing for applying for scholarships. Beginning their freshman or sophomore years, she said, they should start keeping a good record of the activities they are involved in.
When a student applies for a scholarship, have it proofread. Make sure it makes sense.
If the application asks for letters of recommendation, Light said the applicant should supply the letter writer with a list of their activities so the letter writer can speak to that.
One of the biggest problems students have in applying for scholarships is that they don't read the criteria. A student should make sure they qualify for any scholarship they apply for, and only apply to those whose criteria you meet, Light said.
In the past, the foundation had three-ring binders listing all the scholarships that students could look through. This year, Light said, all the scholarships were put on CD and the CDs were handed out to students and their parents. The kids didn't have to return the CDs.
Light suggested students do their research as there are national and local scholarships available.
Pay attention to deadlines.
And while the April 1st deadline has passed for this year, non-traditional students have until July 15 to apply for non-traditional scholarships. Non-traditional scholarships are for people who haven't taken the traditional route of completing high school and then going on to college. They may have gotten married, had children or worked for several years before deciding to go on.
For the July 15 non-traditional scholarships, Light said, people should be accessing that information now.
Luckily, she said, there are a lot of generous people who want to help.
The Teresa K. Jones Memorial Scholarship is given in memory by her mother to award a scholarship to a female student graduating from WCHS. A committee of Jones' former classmates recommends the annual recipient.
The Mary Leedy Hand Memorial Scholarship Endowment is an example of a non-traditional scholarship. It provides scholarships to needy adults returning to higher education and other deserving students who could not otherwise avail themselves of education beyond high school.
Scholarship checks are made to the university or college so the donor knows the money is spent for education and not a new car.
Light said the foundation does a good job of honoring its donors. "It's not about me, it's not about the board. It's about these people who are donors," she said.
For more information about the foundation, applying for scholarships or creating a scholarship, call 574-267-1901, or visit the Web site at www.kcfoundation.org
