The Education Scholarship Foundation of the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives has awarded more than $60,000 in college scholarships to deserving students for the 2021-22 school year.
The recipients are students whose parents live in areas served by electric cooperatives in the three states.
“We commend these students on their outstanding academic achievements,” said Russell G. “Rusty” Brown, chair of the Education Scholarship Foundation Board and vice chairman of the board of directors at Northern Neck Electric Cooperative. “Our electric cooperatives are delighted to provide support to these worthy students, as they represent a future generation of leaders in their communities.”
The Foundation awarded Worth Hudson Scholarships of $1,000 each to 57 students. They are named in honor of Hudson, the first chairman of the Education Scholarship Foundation Board and former chairman of the board of directors of Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative in Chase City, Va.
The Foundation also approved three co-op-specific scholarships. A Gertrude Winston Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $1,000 was awarded to a student in the Rappahannock Electric Cooperative service territory. The program was established in memory of the mother of longtime REC board member Richard Oliver.
The C. D Hypes Memorial Scholarship in the amount of $1,500 was awarded to a student in the Craig-Botetourt Electric Cooperative service territory. Hypes was an educator and a board member at New Castle, Va.-based CBEC.
A Cook Scholarship of $1,000 was awarded to a student in the Delaware Electric Cooperative service territory, donated by DEC members Larry and Leslie Cook.
The Foundation also awarded a special scholarship in memory of the late Bill Sherrod, longtime editor of Cooperative Living magazine, to a student from Choptank Electric Cooperative in Maryland, who is planning to major in English and pursue a career as a writer and author.
Since 2001, the Foundation has provided approximately 780 scholarships totaling more than $800,000 to aspiring college students as well as to the next generation of electric lineworkers.
“Electric cooperatives have a long commitment of supporting education as a way of fostering leadership and enhancing the quality of life in the communities that we serve,” said Brian Mosier, president and CEO of VMDAEC. “We’re extremely proud to be able to help these deserving young people from electric cooperative service areas continue their education, whether at a college or university, or in learning a trade.”
The Foundation is funded through tax-deductible donations and bequests from individuals, proceeds from fundraising events and CoBank’s Sharing Success Program. One hundred percent of donations go to students for scholarships. For information on donating to the Foundation, visit vmdaec.com/scholarship.