Generous contributions from community donors this year has helped Humboldt Area Foundation + Wild Rivers Community Foundation award a record-breaking 535 scholarships totaling $1,078,405 to students in Del Norte, Humboldt, Trinity and Curry counties.
“HAF+WRCF is dedicated to empowering future generations through education, one scholarship at a time,” said Sydney Morrone, the foundation’s Grants and Scholarships Manager. “Our commitment to financially investing in students supports them in their journey to higher education completion, fostering financial stability and success.”
The scholarships, both one-time and multi-year, support graduating high school seniors, current undergraduate, graduate, and vocational students seeking support for their post-secondary education. Morrone said the funding for the scholarship program comes from Foundational funds primarily from local schools, businesses, clubs, organizations and individuals. Scholarship funds reflect new and established donors, and many of the funds are more than 30 years old, while others are as new as a few months.
The largest scholarship in HAF+WRCF’s portfolio is the Carol Lee Memorial Scholarship, which supports one new student each year with $26,000 over four years. The Leslie Christopherson Memorial Scholarship supports two new students each year with $18,000 over four years.
The scholarship program is highly competitive. For the 2023-24 academic year, the foundation received 6,300 applications from 1,139 applicants. The average scholarship was $1,861, with 37 percent of the recipients identifying as non-white. By comparison, the number of applicants was 1,070 in 2023, and 920 in 2022.
Scholarships support students throughout the academic school year and are offered to students pursuing any form of post-secondary education, including associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees and degrees and certifications from a career, vocational or technical school. While most scholarships are primarily intended for and offered to students in the foundation’s four-county service region, some scholarships are available to national or global applicants. Learn more about the program at ScholarshipFinder.org.