Over the years, the Crook County Foundation has assisted many students with their career dreams through providing scholarship funds. Unique to our organization, we manage scholarships for businesses, families, non-profits, and individuals who want to support our local youth and adults continuing their education. In the recent years, the number and dollar amount of the scholarships we manage has continued to increase significantly.
About one-third of our scholarships are funded by endowments that were provided to our organization and invested by the Oregon Community Foundation. Their expertise allows the fund to grow each year and live in perpetuity. With the re-investment of earned interest annually, many of these scholarships have increased in the amount able to be awarded. The remaining scholarships are cash funded each year by our donors and supporters.
Most of our scholarships are for high school seniors, however we do have a growing number that are for current college students and non-traditional students. The criteria varies greatly, as some focus on sport participation, agricultural engagement, community service, and extracurricular involvement. Others are looking for specific career focus and majors of study, and some are for only students going into trades.
New this year is the Bootstrap Award. The Bootstrap Award Scholarship will be open to any student who are currently seniors to those aged 24, but they must have graduated while living in Crook County. The focus will be finding a person who wants to work to build a better life for themselves, who is polite, has stayed out of trouble, and has a cheerful attitude. The type of schooling they are attending does not matter, whether it be a trade school, community college, or university, and the type of job they hold during their schooling is irrelevant if they are earning wages. The student will need to provide copies of their paystubs to our office and quarterly we will provide them a check matching their wages of up to $1,875, combining to a possibility of $7,500 in their first year. If they remain in school and employed, the student can continue the scholarship for a second year.
To learn more about any of our scholarship, or to apply, please visit www.CrookCountyFoundation.org. Details on criteria and awards amounts can be found on our Scholarship page, as well as the link to the various applications. All the high school scholarships that the Crook County Foundation administers will be awarded in June at the Crook County High School Senior Awards Night. Our goal is to continue growing and supporting donors to assist our local youth to achieving their career dreams. That may mean attending a local community college, setting out across country to a university, completing online schooling while working, or finding a trade school that gives them on the job training. Regardless to the type of education, we have scholarships available that are made possible by our local community.
Scholarships are one way to help build a strong future community – they encourage students to expand their education and show that there are people who care about their dreams. If you have been thinking of creating a scholarship, please feel free to contact our office. We can make the process straightforward and effortless on your part. Will you help us support our next leaders? Call Brandi Ebner, Crook County Foundation Executive Director at 541-362-1210 or email info@crookcountyfoundation.org.