Foundation has awarded $170K in scholarships in seven years

Post date: Jul 27, 2012 6:20:26 PM

John Lockhart, a member of the board of directors of Danville-Boyle County Dollars for Scholars, stands next to the fifth hole on the golf course at the Danville Country Club, the site of the Sept. 13 Dollars for Scholars Golf Scamble. (Herb Brock photo)

Several years ago Danvillians Johh Hudson and John Lockhart shared a vision about starting a scholarship program for local high school students. All they needed was some money to make it a reality.

“Basically, we started out begging for money,” said Lockhart with a laugh.

The begging paid off.

Since its formation in 2003, the Danville-Boyle County Dollars for Scholars Foundation has awarded from funds it has raised from businesses, organizations and individuals some $170,000 in scholarships to hundreds of local high school students. The most recent awards, given out in July, totaled $35,000 in 65 scholarships.

“When we started this, there obviously were a lot of scholarship programs already in existence,” said Lockhart, a 1963 Junction City High School graduate who went on to become a UPS executive. “The kind of student we wanted to focus on, though, weren’t necessarily the National Merit Scholar but were basically good students and good kids involved in extracurricular activities who could use a little extra help in their post-high school educations.”

Lockhart said he and Hudson and others wanted a scholarship program that “promotes education as almost the answer to everything” for deserving students pursuing an education as the answer to their individual situations.

“We wanted to get the kids of the knobs and off the streets and keep them in the classroom after high school,” he said.

Hudson agreed with Lockhart’s view of the kind of scholarship program they were looking at starting.

“We wanted to reward average kids who were doing above average work in the classroom and also participating in activites outside the classroom,” said the former superintendent of Kentucky School for the Deaf.

Hudson and Lockhart contacted education, business and community leaders, and they found considerable interest in their idea for a scholarship program. With the help of attorneys for local school boards, the two men and others involved in the project formed the Dollars for Scholars foundation.

“We affiliated ourselves with the national Dollars for Scholars program, but we operate on an entirely local basis,” said Hudson.

In addition to Hudson and Lockhart, the local board includes Ted Baker, Steve Becker, Valery McMann, Evelyn G. Page, Laura Hoffman, Michael Spears, Nellie McKnight, Bill Owens, Lauren Serey, Bill Shaver, Jim Sullivan and Tom Tye.

“Our membership represents a good cross-section of local educators, businesspeople and community leaders,” Lockhart said.

Donations are sought from local businesses and individuals, but the biggest single fundraiser is an annual golf scramble at the Danville Country Club. This year’s event is Sept. 13.

“Every cent of what we raise at the scramble and what we receive through donations goes directly into the scholarships,” said Lockhart. “Any so-called administrative costs and other expenses are paid out of the pockets of board members and other supporters of the foundation.”

Students who are residents of Boyle County and who attend Danville High School, Boyle County High School, Danville Christian Academy or Kentucky School for the Deaf may apply for a Dollars for Scholars scholarship, Lockhart said.

“A team reviews each application, and generally what they are looking for are kids who pass their classes and do well in as many as possible, mind their teachers and administrators and participate in extracurricular activities ,” he said.

The team isn’t looking just for students who are going to college, said Lockhart.

“The scholarship can be applied to four-year college expenses, sure, but it also can be used at a two-year college or a technical school of one kind or another,” he said. “Education and the careers they help young people enter comes in many forms, not just at a four-year college.”

Lochart cited one former Dollars for Scholars student who used his scholarship to help finance an education in diesel engine work.

“He now has a productive and successful career in the field he studied for with the help of the scholarship,” he said.

That former scholarship recipient and several others have communicated their thanks to the Dollars for Scholars board, including a young woman who went onto statewide celebrity, Lockhart said.

“We received a very nice thank you from Maria Montgomery,” he said, referring to the former Miss Kentucky.

2010 scholarship

winners

The Danville-Boyle County Dollars for Scholars Foundation recently awarded 65 scholarships worth a total $35,000 to local high school students. In addition, three special scholarships from foundations that work in association with Dollars for Scholars Foundation also were awarded. The scholarships were announced at a ceremony on July 15.

n John Arnold Memorial Scholarships were awarded to Bethany Schultz, Madeline Meckes, Alexandria Payne and Sarah Vonderbrink.

n The Benjamin Bright Moran Memorial Scholarship was awarded to Hannah Staub.

n The American Association of University Women Scholarship was awarded to Sabrina Evans.

n Dollars for Scholars scholarships were awarded to Tucker Arnett, Michael Barker, Phillip Barsoti, Elizabeth Brooks, Marissa Brown, Ashley Campbell, Elizabeth Campbell, Jessica Conatser, John Coulter, Emily Donlon, Brandon Dreager, Chenda Duong, Andrea Dyehouse;

Matthew Greenleaf, Courtney Hall, Thomasina Hamilton, Alexandra Hawkins, Josh Henderson, Blake Hendricks, Brooke Johnson, Abby Kerbaugh, Erica Knight, Brooke Lange, Timothy Lizer, Rees McShara, Troy McCowan, Shane McKenney, Kellie McMurtry, Anna Meurer, Josh Miller, James Mohan, Aubrey Mojesky;

Asia Nealy, Jacob Nichols, Kristian Paynter, Amanda Peavyhouse, Arielle Perkins, Macy Pike, Benjamin ray, Phillip Reed, Rebecca Rose, Katherine Russell, Jacob Salley, Taylor Satterly, Emily Sheene, Benjamin Sort, April Singleton, Christina Stallman, Kayla Steber, Katherine Strey, Candice Taylor, Spencer Taylor, Bethany Underwood, Jessica Walker, Leslie Walker, Jessica Watts, Emily Wesley, Kathleen Wray and Nicholas Wren.

Golf scramble on Sept. 13

What: Danville-Boyle County Dollars for Scholars Foundation 2010 Benefit Golf Scamble

When: 9:30 a.m. Sept. 13 (coffee and donuts provided prior to “shotgun start” and lunch provided at noon)n Where: Danville Country Club

How much: $75 entry fee per person; $100 per hole sponsorship; $500 per corporate sponsorship

How to register: Make check payabe to the Dollars for Scholars Foundation and mail to 314 W. Main St., Danville, Ky. 40422

For more information: call John Hudson at (859) 236-8827

SO YOU KNOW

The Danville-Boyle County Dollars for Scholars Foundation, a non-profit organization formed seven years ago, annually awards scholarship to Boyle County residents who are students at Boyle and Danville High Schools and the high school programs at the Danville Christian Academy and the Kentucky School for the Deaf. For more information about the foundation, call John Hudson at (859) 236-8827 or John Lockhart at (859) 621-6588, write the foundation at 314 W. Main St., Danville, Ky. 40422, or visit http://www.dbdollarsforscholars.org.

August 24, 2010|By HERB BROCK | herb@amnews.com