The Hillsdale County Community Foundation expects to invest more than $171,000 in Hillsdale County students looking to attend college in the fall. The foundation gave away $171,000 last year and has given over $5 million to students in Hillsdale County since 1991.
The HCCF gave away 175 scholarships ranging from $150-5,000, adding up to $171,000 last year. They expect to expand the giving this year.
Freshman Antonia Busch is among many Hillsdale College students who have benefited from these scholarships. She received a $500 scholarship and said five out of 17 of the students in her graduating class at the Hillsdale Academy received a scholarship from HCCF.
“I was very honored to receive this scholarship, and it helped a lot with college expenses,” she said. “It is so nice to have.”
Sophomore Heather Lantis sat on the HCCF youth board and on the adult board where she took part in the process of giving grants and scholarships to the community.
“It was really cool to be on the adult board, and I gained a lot of wisdom,” Lantis said. “I saw how they thought through different grants, and it taught me a lot about how to handle things in the adult world.”
Each scholarship has different requirements per the donor’s instructions. Program Officer Susan Stout is involved with the process before sending applications to scholarship committees for final review.
“I like that I give away money, that I help the students attain their college goals,” Stout said. “It helps the county grow having the students come back and so they are giving back to their community.”
charper@hillsdale.edu
