Western Kansas Community Foundation (WKCF) is awarding 36 scholarships from 12 different funds totaling $50,890 for the 2023/2024 school year, with more awards to be determined throughout the summer.
The awards will be distributed from various scholarship funds administered by the Foundation.
WKCF scholarships are generally awarded once per year in May. In addition, the Foundation makes distributions from various other donor funds for the purpose of providing scholarships.
This year, a total of $39,310.94 will go directly to the Garden City Community College Endowment Association for the purpose of providing scholarships. These distributions are made from the Mildred Henselman Fund ($22,590.94), and the Henry & Nellie Hall Fund ($16,720).
“As is the case across the scholarship sector, the WKCF is working to remove barriers for students in their post-secondary education paths,” said Stacie Hahn, WKCF’s Program & Marketing Director. “By providing scholarships, and removing those barriers, we hope to help students not only have the opportunity to get to college, but to also have resources available to help them get through college to completion.”
While several scholarships held at the WKCF are handled by educational institutions based on guidelines left by the donors, others are directly reviewed by the Community Foundation board or other scholarship committees.
Of these, the following awards have been made this year:
- Bob Krug Memorial Scholarship (for students who will graduate from a Finney County high school, Garden City or Holcomb, who have played on the high school Tennis team) *NEW in 2023 – $1,000 to Logan Morren
- Duane Nichols Memorial Scholarship (for senior graduates of Holcomb High School, Holcomb) – $500 to Paige Jones
- Garret Doll Memorial Scholarship (for senior graduates of Garden City High School who participated in athletics) – $500 to Anahi Cervantes
- Jan McLeland Memorial Scholarship (for senior graduates of Satanta High School, Satanta) – $450 to Sean Wagner
- Katherine Jones Scholarship (for senior graduates of Holcomb High School, Holcomb) – $1,150 to Paige Jones
- Kline Scholarship (for graduates of Finney, Grant, Gray, Haskell, Kearny, or Scott County High Schools who will be a Junior, Senior, or Post-Graduate student pursuing an Agriculture or Mathematics degree) – $1,000 each to Cole Lehman (Garden City), Kyle Doll (Garden City), and Mia Wendt (Ulysses)
- Mallory Worf Hernandez Memorial Scholarship (for students who will graduate from Garden City High School) – $750 each to Anna Lobmeyer and Kathy Vo
- Norbert Kevin Irsik Memorial Scholarship (for employees, children, or spouses of employees of Irsik & Doll companies in Kansas) – $2,000 each to Anahi Cervantes (Garden City), Ciera Depenbusch (Great Bend), Crystal Casas (Garden City), Estephania Anaya-Lopez (Cimarron), Janelyn Nichols (Dodge City)
- O’Brate Family Scholarship for Ingalls (for senior graduates of Ingalls High School, Ingalls) – $2,000 each to William Ast, Bryce Birkholz, Crystal Casas, Hayden Cure, Taylor Davis, James Dwyre, Brenden Ellis, Ryder Fisher, Abby Gillen, Abigail Lightner, Abigail MacWhinnie, Sydney Minet, Edwin Ruiz, Cole Teeter, Samantha Wnedel
- Tanner Dean Born Memorial Scholarship (for senior graduates of Holcomb High School, Holcomb) – $690 to Paige Jones
- Tonya Wright Memorial Scholarship (for senior graduates of Satanta High School, Satanta, who are pursuing an Arts degree) – $900 to Sean Wagner
- USD #216 – Deerfield Scholarship (for students of Deerfield High School, Deerfield, who are taking dual-credit courses) – $300 each to Alyssa Smith, Audrey Musil, Brenda Houghton, and Shaylie Hill
Staff of Western Kansas Community Foundation always welcome visiting with donors or those interested in contributing to an existing scholarship fund.
The next scholarship deadline is May 1, 2024. To learn more about the application process visit the WKCF website at www.wkcf.org, call at 620-271-9484 or stop by the office at 402 N. Main Street in downtown Garden City.