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Scholarship season is upon us! With this season comes a sea of scholarship opportunities for local high school seniors.
The Community Foundation of Grundy County (CFGC) has the capacity to help donors use their assets to make a difference in their communities through a variety of fund types. One of the most commonly known funds are scholarship funds. Over the last 5 years, CFGC staff have helped several donors steward funds into scholarships to benefit local students.
The typical scholarship is set up to provide a designated amount of money to a high school senior planning to enroll in a 2-or-4-year college or university or a trade school after high school. The majority of scholarships are set up to benefit a student from a specific high school, going into a specific area of study, or attending a specific college or university. Community Foundation staff manages eight unique scholarships.
Our newest scholarship is the Roy & Mardell Carter Music Foundation Scholarship, created to assist a student graduating from Coal City, Dwight, Gardner-South Wilmington, Minooka, Morris, or Seneca who plans to major in music while in college. The scholarship committee will also consider students who plan to major in theater or minor in music. One $500 scholarship will be awarded this year.
The Minooka Women’s Club offers 11-$1,000 scholarships to graduating Minooka High School seniors. While there isn’t a specific major targeted for this scholarship, students do have to write a brief statement on service organizations.
The McCormack-Hill Scholarship for Seneca High School was set up to benefit seniors at Seneca High School who plan to major in education or go into a trade. The McCormack-Hill Scholarship can be applied to costs at a 2-or-4-year college/university or costs associated with a trade school. This scholarship will provide $4,000 in scholarships to Seneca students.
While the Jacob Perry Scholarship once targeted only music and performing arts majors, the family of Jacob has decided to expand the list of majors eligible to apply to encompass all of Jacob’s interests. This scholarship is for seniors graduating from Morris High School planning to major in: music and/or the performing arts, or a health and/or mental health related field such as nursing, psychiatry, or social work at an accredited 2-or-4-year college or university. The scholarship committee will also consider students who played boys’ or girls’ basketball at Morris High School that plan to pursue a degree in another field. This scholarship will provide at least 1-$1,000 each year.
CFGC holds two scholarships to benefit students graduating from Grundy Area Vocational Center. The Charles “Pete” Muffler Scholarship was created in memory of Pete Muffler, a long-time volunteer for various organizations including: Morris Fire District, Corn Fest, Morris Lions Club, and Fraternal Order of Eagles. This scholarship provides $1,500 to a graduate of GAVC who plans to pursue a career in fire science. The Grabowski-Olson Automotive Scholarship was created by the families of Donald Max Olson and Frank Grabowski who both had a love of cars. It offers 2-$1,000 scholarships to graduating seniors who plan to pursue careers in the automotive industry.
In addition to the above scholarships designated for high school seniors, CFGC also has two non-traditional scholarships created to benefit college students. The Farrell Fellows Scholarships were created to honor the lives of Mike and Char Farrell. Mike was a CFGC board member and long-time journalist, and Char was an educator. When the Farrell’s passed away, a portion of their estate was bequeathed to CFGC, where the board of trustees decided to create a scholarship fund to keep the memories of Mike and Char alive. This scholarship fund provides a $10,000 scholarship for a college student majoring in education that will be enrolled in their junior or senior year during the Fall of 2025. Another $10,000 scholarship will be awarded to a college student majoring in communication, journalism, broadcasting, or similar field who will be enrolled in their junior or senior year in the Fall of 2025. For both scholarships, those applying must be Grundy County residents and enrolled in an accredited college or university. This scholarship will be live and ready to take in applications March 1, 2025. All scholarships listed are available on our website at https://cfgrundycounty.com/student/. Because CFGC is certainly not the only organization offering scholarships, we encourage all seniors enrolling in post-secondary education to reach out to their school counselors to obtain a list of scholarship opportunities.