Central Carolina Community Foundation awards over $500,000 in scholarships for 2020-2021 school year
June 10, 2020
Central Carolina Community Foundation, the Midlands’ local center for philanthropy, has awarded over $500,000 in scholarships to 204 outstanding students across South Carolina and the country for the 2020-2021 school year. This is the largest amount awarded in the Community Foundation’s history.
Since 1998, the Foundation has awarded more than $3 million in scholarships to help deserving students obtain a higher education. The awards range from $400 to the full cost of tuition, room and board, and fees. The Foundation manages 44 scholarship funds, each with its own specific purpose and eligibility criteria based on the donor’s recommendations. Many of the funds have been established as testaments to the donor’s passion for education or to honor the legacy of a loved one.
For example, the Harmon Scholarship at Central Carolina Community Foundation was established by entrepreneur Fred Harmon, co-founder of the South Carolina-based safety technology firm SixAxis, to foster a new generation of civic-minded innovators in his adopted state. In addition to providing a generous stipend, a laptop computer, and a home printer, the Harmon Scholarship covers tuition costs for four years for students graduating from Sumter County who attend either the University of South Carolina (UofSC) or Clemson University.
“Rather than giving a small amount of money to a number of people, I chose to give a very generous amount to select individuals, to make sure that they could actually go to school and have a productive and pleasant experience,” Harmon says. “My only problem is picking one out of the number of terrific students who apply every year. “
Harmon designed his scholarship to help students realize that they can create their version of the American Dream, which doesn’t have to follow societal expectations, and pursue it.
Since its creation, the Harmon Scholarship has awarded over $200,000 to six Sumter County students. The first recipient, Wilfredo Anderson, graduated from the Darla Moore School of Business at UofSC this past May. “The Harmon Scholarship has impacted me personally by allowing me to live out my version of the American Dream,” said Anderson when asked what the Harmon Scholarship has meant to him. “Through hard work, dedication, and persistence, I can achieve my dream.”
“Providing scholarships to students through the generosity of our donors has always been an important way to help serve our community,” said JoAnn Turnquist, president and CEO of CCCF. “With unemployment numbers still high due to COVID-19, we understand that for many students, these scholarship awards mean even more this year as they are the difference between being able to attend college or not. We congratulate each of our scholarship recipients and wish them well as they continue to learn and grow.”
Central Carolina Community Foundation will begin accepting online applications for the 2021-2022 school year in January 2021. For more information about applying for scholarships or establishing a scholarship fund at the Foundation, please visit www.yourfoundation.org/scholarships or call 803.254.5601.
About Central Carolina Community Foundation
Central Carolina Community Foundation, the Midlands’ center for philanthropy, is a nonprofit organization serving 11 counties in the Midlands of SC by distributing grants and scholarships and linking the resources of donors, nonprofits and area leaders to communities in need. Major initiatives include the online giving challenge Midlands Gives, On the Table, Connected Communities grants, the One SC Fund, and annual scholarships. For more information about the Foundation, visit www.yourfoundation.org or call 803.254.5601.
