Students from across Custer County will converge at the Callaway High School gymnasium Sunday afternoon at 2:00 PM for the annual Custer County Foundation Scholarship Ceremony.
Students began applying for scholarships with the Foundation in early November 2023 with a deadline of February 1, 2024.
Lindsay Cook, Executive Director of the Custer County Foundation, told KCNI/KBBN News that Sunday’s ceremony will see 98 scholarships awarded to 89 students worth a total amount of $138,940.
Fueling the futures of Custer County youth has been happening through the Foundation for over three decades, Cook said regarding a recent calculation back to inception.
“Since our inception, the foundation has awarded $1,763,904 dollars. So that’s pretty cool. That’s a huge number for us and our area to be almost $1.8 million in scholarships since 1991.”
Cook went on to say that there are a lot of different individuals and groups that have created scholarships.
“So we have a lot of individual families who create scholarships in memory of a lost loved one. We do have some organizations that create scholarships as well. Businesses can create scholarships as well, but there are a few more restrictions from the IRS on businesses for scholarships but that’s something we can work through.”
If residents of Custer County are thinking about establishing a scholarship through the Custer County Foundation, Cook explained the process.
“Just stop by the office and visit with us about it and we can kind of go over the criteria and the amount. The great thing about all of our scholarships is they are all donor driven, so the donor decides what they want us to use to select the recipients and then the donor is the one who makes the contribution to the scholarship that goes on to the student. The Custer County Foundation takes care of all the behind the scenes work; we verify that the student is enrolled before the scholarship is paid out and that they’ve met the criteria. We obviously select the recipients as well, so it’s a pretty easy process for the donors.”
