The Grand Island Community Foundation (GICF) wants to encourage students in pursuit of post-secondary education to use the Foundation’s online application to apply for scholarships. The Community Foundation awarded more than 90 scholarships last year and expects to surpass that number this year. Each year scholarships are offered for both traditional and nontraditional students. With one application form, students will be evaluated to determine which scholarships they will be eligible to receive through the Foundation. Applications for 2016-2017 opened December 1^st. Students should click on the scholarships tab to apply.

The first permanent scholarship fund was established in 1985 by Jim Kahroff, who wanted to create a legacy in honor of his grandfather, George Cowton. Since then many more scholarship funds have been established, with the Foundation currently holding over 60 scholarship funds for students. This growing legacy continues to increase year after year with new funds being established to make a difference in students' lives. “Generous members of our community have established funds allowing local students to pursue their dreams in higher education,” said Melissa DeLaet, CEO of the Grand Island Community Foundation. “We provide scholarships to both traditional and non-traditional students and offer scholarships to students from all Grand Island high schools, Cairo, Doniphan Trumble, Loup City, and more. Our online application gives students the ability to apply for all of our in-house scholarships with just one application process, simplifying the process for the students,” said DeLaet.

GICF offers a variety of scholarships sure to fit about every student’s situation. We offer scholarships for students in engineering, education, business, medical, arts, and much more. Two specific scholarships offered are for Hall County residents and students entering the healthcare profession such as dental, medical technology, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and radiology technology. Preference is given to students that have already been accepted into medical school or graduate school.

The Foundation has several scholarships dedicated to specific businesses. The Howard and Gladys Eakes Memorial Scholarship was established to honor the memories of Howard and Gladys Eakes and to benefit a child or stepchild of an Eakes Office Solutions employee. Another business dedicated scholarship is the Jim and Dee Price Scholarship, established in 2004 to benefit children of Kriz-Davis Co. employees.

In addition the Grand Island Community Foundation offers scholarships for grade school and junior high students. The William Fowles Memorial Fund offers scholarships to boys and girls, ages 7 – 17 years of age, who want to learn the game of golf. Bill loved golf and this scholarship fund helps youth with an interest in golf, but lack the resources to learn how to play. Scholarships are offered every summer for youth to participate in junior golf programs that not only teach golf, but also build character, self-confidence and skills. Another scholarship fund for junior and high school age youth is the Bob McFarland Fund. This fund, established because of Bob’s love of baseball, supports youth baseball in Grand Island by providing scholarships for little league baseball registration fees and uniform expenses for qualifying youth.

Each donor is able to specify the criteria for their scholarships. While some donor’s choose to take part in the review process of their scholarship(s) others prefer to have the Foundation and Board of Trustees review and select the scholarship recipients. Each scholarship application is carefully evaluated and considered. The Grand Island Community Foundation is accredited by the National Standards Board for U.S. Community Foundations and supports Grand Island, Hall County and surrounding communities in Central Nebraska. Annually, the Foundation receives approximately 50 grant requests, reviews 250 scholarship applications, and assists hundreds of donors through individual funds, family funds, and community projects.

“For many of our donors a scholarship is their way to leave their Legacy in our community, we are fortunate to have so many passionate individuals who believe in investing in the future of our community,” DeLaet said. The online scholarship applications became available December 1, 2016 and can be found under the scholarships tab. The deadline for all applications will be 4pm on February 10, 2017.  If you have any questions or would like more information about scholarships please contact the Grand Island Community Foundation by calling 308-381-7767.