Five graduating regional high school seniors have been chosen to receive four-year college scholarships from MVYouth, leaders at the fledgling community fund announced Tuesday.
The grants total $300,000. Lee Faraca will attend California Polytechnic State University, Madeleine Moore will attend the University of Chicago, Anne Ollen will attend Barnard College, Charles Parkhurst will attend UCLA and Galya Walt will attend Tufts University, a press release said.
Ms. Moore is from Chilmark; the other four recipients are from West Tisbury.
The advisory board for the fund narrowed a pool of 31 applicants to 12 semifinalists. Applicants were evaluated on academic performance, character and community service. Need was also a factor and as part of the process, semi-finalists shared admission and financial aid information with MVYouth, which among other things aims to help promising students of moderate means shoulder the high cost of college.
“As the cost of attendance continues to increase at colleges and universities across the country, students are faced with either taking out significant loans or choosing more affordable institutions,” the release said.
The scholarship program offers what it calls last dollar funding to students, filling the financial gap left after family contributions, school grants and scholarships are in place.
“We were very impressed by the semifinalists,” said fund co-chairman Dan Stanton in the release. “They were a very talented, hardworking and ambitious group. It was very difficult to choose.”
Founded last year using a collaborative funding model, MVYouth raised $4 million to fund two programs: expansion grants and college scholarships. Dedicated to bettering the lives of Island youth, the fund plans to disburse $1 million per year for the next four years.
In February of this year the fund awarded a total of $800,000 in expansion grants to Martha’s Vineyard Community Services and Martha’s Vineyard Little League.
The co-founders of MVYouth are Mr. Stanton and Jim Swartz, both seasonal residents of Edgartown. The board of trustees also includes Steve Barnes, Drew Conway, David Fialkow, Mimi Haas and Ron Rappaport.
Advisory board members are Mr. Rappaport, Meg Bodnar, Brock Callen, Marta Camargo, George Davis, Beth Kramer, Brian Mackey, Duncan Pickard and Peg Regan. The executive director is Lindsey Scott.
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