Cooperative Announces Scholarship Winners

Three high school seniors are the recipient of $1,000 scholarships awarded by the Educational Scholarship Foundation of the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives (VMDAEC).

Nathaniel Fox, the son of Ruth and Frampton Fox of Gap Mills, WV, will be graduating from James Monroe High School and has been accepted by Liberty University. Jennifer Bradley, the daughter of Kaye and Gary Bradley of Newport, Va., will be graduating from Giles High School and plans to attend Virginia Tech.

Both students were awarded the $1,000 C.D Hypes Memorial Scholarship, named in memory of the late C.D Hypes, who taught agriculture in Virginia public schools for 30 years and also served on the board of Craig Botetourt Electric Cooperative in New Castle, Va.

In addition, Sela Reynolds, the daughter of Amy and Christopher Reynolds of Newport, Va. is the recipient of a $1,000 Worth M. Hudson Scholarship, named in honor of the first chair of the VMDAEC Educational Scholarship Foundation and former chair of the board of Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative in Chase City, Va.  Sela is a senior at Giles High School and plans to attend New River Community College.

This year, the VMDAEC Educational Scholarship Foundation received 212 applications from students in areas served by electric cooperatives in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware and awarded a total of 50 $1,000 scholarships. Recipients were chosen based on financial need (40 percent), academic achievement (40 percent) and a personal statement(20 percent).  Applicants must be entering their first semester of college, technical or trade school in the autumn of 2013.

The Foundation is funded through tax-deductible donations from individuals and VMDAEC cooperatives and proceeds from the Spring Round-Up Golf Tournament.    

“We were able to award more $1,000 scholarships than last year thanks to donations from several VMDAEC member cooperatives that were matched by CoBank through their ‘Sharing Success’ Program,” said Roberta Harlowe, chair of VMDAEC’s Educational Services Committee who serves on the board of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative.

CoBank is a national cooperative bank that provides loans and other financial services to rural power, water and communications providers in all 50 states.

Since its inception in 2001, the Foundation has awarded 409 electric cooperative scholarships totaling $308,500.  The number of scholarships awarded each year is based upon funds available and these grants can be used to pay for tuition, fees and books.