College dreams coming true thanks to Elks scholarships
Are you a high school senior with a dream to go to college? Do you know one? The Pine Island Elks Lodge 2781 wants you to know that you could make those dreams come true by applying for an Elks Most Valuable Student Scholarship.
Nadya Okomoto from Portland, Ore., spent more than a year of high school legally homeless, but never lost sight of her dream to attend Harvard. Jay Little from Artesia, Miss., grew up in a single-parent household with no male role models and had to advocate for himself to reach his goal of attending college. Now, these 2016 top Most Valuable Student scholarship winners attend the colleges of their dreams, thanks in large part to the Elks National Foundation.
No dream is too big for the Elks National Foundation. This year, the ENF is investing $3.74 million in college scholarships for our nation’s future leaders. MVS scholars ? all of whom demonstrate scholarship, leadership and financial need ? are graduating from college at a rate of nearly 90 percent, about 40 percent higher than the national average.
Through the contest, the ENF will award 20 top scholarships ranging from $20,000 to $50,000. The remaining 480 runners-up will receive $4,000 scholarships.
The MVS scholarship is available to high school seniors who are United States citizens. Applicants do not need to be related to a member of the Elks. Males and females compete separately and are judged on scholarship, leadership and financial need. Applications for the 2017 contest are available online at enf.elks.org/mvs. The deadline is Nov. 30, 2016. The 500 national winners will be announced in late April, after the top 20 finalists participate in the Leadership Weekend in Chicago, April 6-9.
For complete Most Valuable Student scholarship contest details including the application, and to learn more about how the Elks are investing in the community, visit elks.org/enf.
For more information, contact Judy Hopkins, scholarship chair for the Pine Island Elks Lodge, at 239-283-4883.