Four PCHS students awarded scholarships from Community Foundation of NRV
The Community Foundation of the New River Valley (CFNRV) held its 2019 Scholarship Awards Dinner on May 9, 2019, at the German Club Manor in Blacksburg to celebrate the largest year of the program to date, awarding $80,908 in scholarships to 67 students from across the New River Valley. Over 200 guests attended the event, including scholarship recipients and their families, donors, principals, guidance counselors, and foundation volunteers.
Begun in 2002, the aims of the program are to support the educational aspirations of students so that they can achieve their full potential, to nurture a skilled workforce in the region, and to cultivate future community leaders. The program has grown steadily over the past 17 years, awarding almost $621,000 to 619 students from over 40 endowed scholarship funds. Funds are created by individuals, families, and NRV businesses, and are managed by the CFNRV.
The 2019 group of scholarship winners was one of the most diverse to date, with almost a quarter of the cohort comprised of first generation college students. Recipients will attend a wide range of colleges, many within the region and some ranging as far abroad as Rome. Virginia Tech (22 recipients) and Radford (9 recipients) were the most popular destinations in the 2019 cohort.
CFNRV board member John Muffo created a scholarship fund because of the impact scholarships had on his own education. Muffo said, “Why we decided to fund a scholarship is quite simple. Higher education has always been very important to me as a way to improve my life personally and professionally. My own undergraduate education was funded in part by a partial scholarship. I feel a responsibility to pass it on to another generation.”
CFNRV Executive Director Jessica Wirgau hopes more community members will support the program and help expand its impact. Wirgau said, “We were thrilled to reach a new milestone in 2019, awarding over $80,000 in scholarships to students from across the region. Every year the demand for scholarship funding goes up, and we are still only able to fund a fraction of the many qualified applications we receive. These scholarships benefit the individual students first and foremost, but they also benefit our broader region by helping to cultivate a qualified workforce, with many of our recipients staying right here in the NRV after graduation. We know that creating a scholarship fund puts a higher education within reach and supports the next generation of NRV leaders. Now we need more individuals, families, and businesses to help us meet the demand for funding by creating an endowed scholarship.”
Muffo agrees that benefits from the program accrue to more than just individual recipients. Muffo said, “The benefit to the Foundation and the community is also obvious. A scholarship is a hand up rather than a hand out. It helps a person become more self-sufficient as well as a better informed citizen.”
A complete list of scholarship winners is below. The 2020 scholarship application will open online in October 2019 with a deadline of February 7, 2020. Anyone interested in starting an endowed scholarship fund to support an NRV student may contact the foundation at 540-381-8999 or email jessicawirgau@cfnrv.org.
2019 SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS
| Scholarship Recipient | Award | Recipient’s Current School | Awarding Fund |
| Carter Brockman | $900 | Auburn High School | William F. Teel Scholarship Fund |
| Holden Trimmer | $1,000 | Auburn High School | Juanita Shelor Hall Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Hailey Wade | $1,000 | Auburn High School | Juanita Shelor Hall Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Kerrie Miller | $1,000 | Auburn High School | Auxiliary of Radford Community Hospital/CNRVMC |
| Brooke Anderson | $750 | Blacksburg High School | Casey Jones Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Megan Asbrand | $1,000 | Blacksburg High School | Diana Love Legacy Instrumental Music Scholarship Fund |
| Ailene Edwards | $500 | Blacksburg High School | Dana R. and Marilyn Spencer Scholarship Fund |
| Sture Forsman | $1,500 | Blacksburg High School | Jim Gwazdauskas Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Kalina Hanowski | $750 | Blacksburg High School | Blacksburg High School NHS Legacy Fund |
| Bethany Hsiao | $1,000 | Blacksburg High School | Terry Helms Memorial Scholarship Fund ; |
| Dawson Racek | $1,000 | Blacksburg High School | Chris Dudley Scholarship Fund |
| Hugh Scarpa-Friedman | $500 | Blacksburg High School | Dennis Stauffer Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Raaga Unmesha Vullikanti | $2,000 | Blacksburg High School | Blacksburg Volunteer Rescue Squad Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Whitney Welbaum | $1,000 | Blacksburg High School | June Liang Wang Scholarship Fund |
| Hannah Jirsa | $750 | Blacksburg High School | Blacksburg High School NHS Legacy Fund |
| Sebastian Kocz | $1,000 | Blacksburg High School | June Liang Wang Scholarship Fund |
| Tyler Kwak | $500 | Christiansburg High School | A. Phillip Meadows Leadership Fund |
| Cooper Neeble | $1,000 | Christiansburg High School | Marcus Allen Ford Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Daniel Song | $2,000 | Christiansburg High School | Doris Huff Elliott Business Excellence Scholarship Fund |
| Jacob Weaver | $500 | Dayspring Christian Academy | Eric E. Sutphin Memorial Scholarship For the Children of Law Enforcement Officers |
| Vance Garren | $1,000 | Eastern Montgomery High School | Epperly Family Fund |
| Brett Smith | $1,000 | Eastern Montgomery High School | Allan Mandelstamm Scholarship Fund |
| Nevaeh Ford | $1,000 | Eastern Montgomery High School | Epperly Family Fund |
| Sierra Pennington | $1,000 | Eastern Montgomery High School | Marie Mandelstamm Scholarship Fund |
| Destiny Akers | $500 | Floyd County High School | Evelyn Rutrough Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Caden Dean-Sauter | $900 | Floyd County High School | Woodrow and Elma Turman Scholarship Fund |
| Shaylee Gearhart | $1,000 | Floyd County High School | James E. and Kate H. Board Scholarship Fund |
| Brian Hammond | $1,000 | Floyd County High School | James E. and Kate H. Board Scholarship Fund |
| Bethany Miller | $1,000 | Floyd County High School | Williamsburg Consort Symphonic Band Scholarship Fund |
| Bridgette Poff | $1,000 | Floyd County High School | James E. and Kate H. Board Scholarship Fund |
| Victoria Pratt-Myers | $1,000 | Floyd County High School | Citizens Scholarship Fund |
| Hannah Vest | $1,000 | Floyd County High School | James E. and Kate H. Board Scholarship Fund |
| Adam Bradshaw | $1,000 | Floyd County High School | Larry Turman Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Lily Pratt | $500 | Floyd County High school | Mary Ann King Peters Scholarship Fund |
| Brianna Wright | $500 | Gateway Christian School | Eric E. Sutphin Memorial Scholarship For the Children of Law Enforcement Officers |
| Elijah Anderson | $1,000 | Grayson County High School | Plummer Family Scholarship Fund, |
| Jackson Moxley | $1,000 | Grayson County High School | Plummer Family Scholarship Fund |
| Leah Pierce | $1,000 | Homeschool | Auxiliary of Radford Community Hospital/CNRVMC |
| Hannah Belcher | $500 | Narrows High | Laura J. Pynn Scholarship Fund |
| Hannah Shuff | $840 | Narrows High School | Domermuth Scholarship Fund |
| Keiona Eaves | $2,000 | New River Community College | Adrienne Marie Rhudy Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Denise Hood | $1,000 | New River Community College | Wings Fund |
| Madison Cornell | $2,000 | Pulaski County High School | Adrienne Marie Rhudy Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Breanna Lytton | $1,000 | Pulaski County High School | Auxiliary of Radford Community Hospital/CNRVMC |
| Elisa Gael Suttle | $500 | Pulaski County High School | T.Scott Eaton Scholarship Fund |
| Dakota Talbert | $2,000 | Pulaski County High School | Jo Ann Slate Smith Scholarship Fund |
| Julia Lucas | $1,000 | Radford University | Juanita Shelor Hall Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Devon Watty | $2,000 | Radford University | Adrienne Marie Rhudy Memorial Scholarship Fund |
| Kayla Snyder | $1,000 | Radford University | Marie Mandelstamm Scholarship Fund |
| Kayla Marshall | $1,018 | Roanoke College | Warren Lloyd Holtzman Freedom Scholarship Fund |
| Kaela Dunlap | $1,000 | Shenandoah University | Diana Love Legacy Instrumental Music Scholarship Fund |
| Margaret Kovick | $1,000 | The American University of Rome | Allan Mandelstamm Scholarship Fund |
| Morgan Fisher | $1,000 | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Auxiliary of Radford Community Hospital/CNRVMC |
| Jenna Bender | $2,000 | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech Women’s Club Scholarship Fund |
| Jantzyn Alley | $2,000 | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech Women’s Club Scholarship Fund |
| Emily Barrett | $2,000 | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech Women’s Club Scholarship Fund |
| Kimberly Fike | $2,000 | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech Women’s Club Scholarship Fund |
| Garrett Fleming | $3,000 | Virginia Tech | Lineweaver Scholarship Fund |
| Cosette Geesey | $2,000 | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech Women’s Club Scholarship Fund |
| Paulina Hall | $2,000 | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech Women’s Club Scholarship Fund |
| Christopher Henley | $1,000 | Virginia Tech | Muffo Family Scholarship Fund |
| Carrie Orey | $2,000 | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech Women’s Club Scholarship Fund |
| Delaney Snead | $2,000 | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech Women’s Club Scholarship Fund |
| Reagan Snead | $2,000 | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech Women’s Club Scholarship Fund |
| Allison Trittschuh | $2,000 | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech Women’s Club Scholarship Fund |
| Hannah Wohlford | $2,000 | Virginia Tech | Virginia Tech Women’s Club Scholarship Fund |
| Chelsea Booth | $1,000 | Wytheville Community College | Wings Fund |