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Dollars For Scholars to benefit seven scholars

By Davea Fisher

The 7th annual Dollars for Scholars (DFS) Awards Night was held June 7 at the community center. This year $10,500 in scholarships were awarded to Point Roberts students. 

DFS awarded $1,000 to graduating high school seniors Adam Dykstra, Andrew Grubb, and Naomi Shucard. Scholarships in the amount of $500 were given to on-going college students Carly Hubbard, Rhyan Lopez, and Tiffany Range. In addition, in the adult returning to school category, a $500 scholarship was awarded to Steve Furno.

Dollars for Scholars is proud to feature $500 scholarships given by businesses or organizations. This year Henri Wendel awarded Adam Dykstra the Delta Cable Vision award, Debbie Hammer presented the Whidbey Telephone Company award to Rhyan Lopez, Julia Carlson awarded the Sterling Savings Bank award to Naomi Shucard and Leslie O’Neill presented the International Marketplace award to Adam Dykstra.

Three scholarships were given in memory of loved family members. Louise Mugar gave a $500 scholarship in memory of her late father, John M. Mugar, while Sally Roberts and Minda Eadie-Wilson each gave $500 scholarships in memory of their husbands. The David Ashton Award was given to Naomi Shucard and the Don Wilson Award went to Steve Furno.

Two $500 scholarships were given to students who are, or will be, taking courses about the environment. Paul Ferry presented the Heron Preservation Committee award to Andrew Grubb, while Jessica McVey presented the Garden Tour Committee Award to Tiffany Range.

The Whyte award, a $1,000 scholarship donated by Jim and Luana Whyte, was awarded to Andrew Grubb. The Whytes enjoyed living in Point Roberts and wanted to give back to the community.

The award’s committee chose Andrew for this scholarship because his application, among all those received, had the highest amount of points given for activities, jobs, and community service. After the award had been determined DFS discovered that one of Andrew’s activities was worth special mention. It illustrates how one person can make a difference in other people’s lives.

Andrew Grubb, president of SWAP, Students With A Purpose, brought awareness of the plight of the Ugandan children to a large number of people. Story: the Ugandan children leave their homes and go to town to sleep together for safety. They do this to avoid being kidnapped and forced by the army to become soldiers. The rebel militia has already abducted thousands of children and subjected them to torture or sexual violence, and forced them to fight in a violent guerrilla army. When Andrew learned about this ongoing atrocity he arranged to have a powerful documentary of their plight shown to nearly 600 people in Blaine. This not only raised awareness, but also raised over $2,000 for the children. Next Andrew arranged a Blaine contingent to attend a sleep-in in Seattle that more than 5,000 people attended. All quite amazing! If the reader is interested in learning more about the children of Uganda go to www.invisiblechildren.com.

At the close of awards night John Fisher, one of the Friends of the Library, gave each of the graduating high school seniors a check for $100 to defray the cost of textbooks. John Fisher presented the awards to Adam Dykstra, Naomi Shucard and Andrew Grubb. The Friends of the Library are aware that $100 will not make much of a dent in today’s high priced text books, but want the students to know that our library supports the students going to college.

The Dollars for Scholars is grateful to the community of Point Roberts for its generosity. We have some remarkable students growing up in Point Roberts and an equally remarkable group of people who wish to assist them in furthering their education. Thank you for your continued and unwavering support.