By Nancy Bowman
Sometimes a young person’s life involves more than what people see.
For area high school seniors who may have taken time away from school and extra activities to help care for a family member during a time of medical crisis, there’s the Life’s a Journey Don’t Stop Believing Scholarship.
This $1,000 scholarship was established in 2013 through the Tipp City Foundation by Kelley Seto Andary with the first scholarship awarded in 2014.
“Years ago at our restaurant, we had a young man that worked for us at Harrison’s in Tipp City. He was an excellent employee. And then, all of the sudden, he started calling off work, showing up late, exhausted etc.” Andary said. “We found out that his step-mom was going through treatments and he had to do more things at home to help the family. We almost let him go because we thought he didn’t want to work!”
With that experience in mind, Andary said the desire arose to create a scholarship that acknowledged high school seniors that maybe had to give up some things that kids do in order to be there for a loved one.
“Our scholarship is HEART-based…we don’t look at grades, extracurriculars… We felt that these kids get passed over for some of these scholarships because they could not always worry about studying for exams or making all the practices to be a part of group,” she said.
High school seniors in Miami, Greene and Montgomery counties are eligible for the scholarship. Students must be nominated for the scholarship, with nominations often coming from teachers, said Lisa Reynolds of The Troy Foundation. Students should be planning to continue their education at any college, university, trade or technical school.
“I send it (scholarship details) out to all the high schools in the counties and recommend that the information be shared with teachers and counselors, because sometimes they are more aware of these everyday rock stars,” Reynolds said. “It is one of my personal favorite scholarships although it is bittersweet knowing the student had suffered a rough time and more than likely lost a loved one in the process, but maintained their grades and attendance during the process.”
To nominate a student or for more information, visit The Troy Foundation’s website at thetroyfoundation.org and complete the nomination instructions found under the “Scholarship” tab and the Scholarships Available under Life is a Journey tab. Nominations for this year’s scholarship are due March 18.
“Our goal is to acknowledge those kids that made sacrifices and they go above and beyond for their family and/or loved ones. We wanted to leave a legacy of our efforts and a fully funded scholarship via the Tipp City Foundation was the perfect vehicle for us to do so,” Andary said.
Andary started working or her families’ restaurants following college graduation in 1993. She opened Harrison’s Restaurant in downtown Tipp City in 2005, serving as general manager until 2014. She now is with the Blue Berry Café in Bellbrook.
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The Tipp City Foundation is a member fund of The Troy Foundation. You can make a difference with your dollars in our community by:
- Donating online here.
- Making your check payable to the Tipp City Foundation and mail to P.O. Box 626, Tipp City, OH 45371.
- Setting up a fund or legacy plan by contacting Heather Bailey at (937) 528-2482.
STAY CONNECTED
We’d love to stay in touch. Stay connected with the Tipp City Foundation by:
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
All marketing activities of the Foundation is 100% underwritten by generous sponsors. Please contact us at info@tippfoundation.org for information on how your business or organization can become our partner in philanthropy.
- Silver Sponsor – Thrivent Financial (Matt Buehrer)
- Bronze Sponsors – Dunaway Family Foundation; Dungan & LeFevre; Ever-Green Turf & Landscape; Gibson Law Offices; Monroe Federal Savings and Loan; New Carlisle Federal Savings Bank; Pickrel, Schaeffer and Ebeling; Unity National Bank
- Friend Sponsors – Captor Corp.; Edward Jones (Neil Nehring); Frings & Bayliff Funeral Home; Minster Bank; RSM US; Turnstone Financial; US Bank
- Media Sponsor – Tippecanoe Gazette
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