May 13
Eight RichmondCC Students Awarded Golden Leaf Scholarships
Eight Richmond Community College students intending to transfer to a four-year college or university were recently awarded scholarships from the Golden Leaf Foundation.
The 2016 scholarship recipients are Chelsea Covington, Amber Daniels, Jessie Daniels, Sandra Huneycutt, Jessica Penny, James Rierson, Jordan Smith and Diamond Sargent.
“On behalf of the College, I applaud these RichmondCC students who have set educational and career goals and are working hard to obtain those goals,” Dr. Dale McInnis said. “I thank the Golden Leaf Foundation for investing in the futures of our students and for being a great supporter of education.”
These eight RichmondCC students are among the 215 students selected to receive a $3,000 scholarship each year to study at a participating North Carolina public university or private non-profit college or university. As community college transfer students, they will receive up to three years of support.
Transferring to the University of North Carolina-Pembroke are Chelsea Covington, Sandra Huneycutt, Jessica Penny and James Rierson. Transferring to Gardner-Webb University are Amber Daniels and Jessie Daniels. Jordan Smith is transferring to East Carolina University, and Diamond Sargent is transferring to the University of North Carolina-Greensboro.
Recipients from rural, economically distressed North Carolina counties are selected based on a number of criteria, including review of school and community service activities, goals, and expressed intent to contribute to rural communities upon graduation from college.
“The Golden LEAF Board of Directors has been pleased to assist more than 13,700 students from families in rural communities attend college since 2000,” said Dan Gerlach, Golden LEAF president. “The Golden LEAF Scholarship is one of the many tools we have to help fulfill our purpose of growing North Carolina’s rural economy. Our hope is that through this scholarship, scholars will be able to gain valuable knowledge and skills and come back to their hometowns or another rural area to help our communities prosper.”
The Golden LEAF Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to help transform North Carolina’s economy. Until 2013, the foundation received one-half of North Carolina’s funds from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers and places special emphasis on assisting tobacco-dependent, economically-distressed and/or rural communities across the state. The Golden LEAF Foundation works in partnership with governmental entities, educational institutions, economic development organizations and nonprofits to achieve its mission. The foundation has awarded 1,309 grants totaling more than $570 million since its inception.