Elk County Community Foundation Announces New Scholarship
Recently the Elk County Community Foundation, (ECCF) awarded nearly $63,000 in scholarships to area students. Each scholarship is unique to the field of study, eligibility and community it serves. This year the Foundation has a new scholarship from Ridgway Area School District, which they have just turned over to the Foundation to administer. The Josh Launer Memorial Scholarship has been awarded in the past, but the School District decided to transfer the funds to the Foundation because it was the most cost effective way to manage these funds and would produce the most available dollars to the students.
The Josh Launer Memorial Scholarship was established in Josh’s memory and is a tribute to his life by his family and friends. Josh was a student at Ridgway Area High School. He enjoyed both the outdoors and anything with motors. Josh faced many challenges while in school, mainly health related, but he found that he could still manage to do, try and work hard in school. He overcame these challenges to reach his graduation in 2005 from Ridgway Area High School. Shortly after graduation, Josh underwent a heart transplant. Unfortunately, after a long battle with his health problems, Josh passed away in the fall of 2005. He is greatly missed by many. This scholarship is awarded each year to a graduating senior from RAHS that has demonstrated an ability to overcome challenges handed to them and wishes to continue their education at the college level. This year’s recipient of the Josh Launer Memorial Scholarship is Shane Munson.
In addition to the dollars these students will receive from these scholarship funds, they may receive matching dollars from PHEAA through the PATH (Partners for Access To Higher Education) program. As one of only 35 approved organizations that are PATH partners, the Elk County Community Foundation will submit each student who receives one of the scholarships that they administer to PHEAA for additional matching funding. To be eligible, the student must be enrolled in an approved Pennsylvania College or career school and be PHEAA approved. Last year, students that received ECCF scholarships received nearly $27,500 in additional grants. This is one of the reasons that many donors come to the Foundation to establish their scholarships. This program can potentially double their scholarship award through the PATH program.
The Community Foundation also assists donors who have an interest in starting a scholarship fund, whether as a general purpose or in the memory of a deceased family member or friend. Interested parties are encouraged to contact the foundation for further information on the matter.
32 South St Marys Street, Suite 4, P.O. Box 934 – Saint Marys, PA 15857 – Phone: 814-834-2125 – Fax: 814-834-2126 – Email: eccf@windstream.net
