EUP students receive $140,000 in scholarships from Chippewa County Community Foundation

SAULT STE. MARIE — The Chippewa County Community Foundation has awarded over $140,000 in scholarships to graduating high school students in 2022.

The community foundation was created in 1994 and since then has been operating dozens of scholarship funds to support local students. 

This year, 78 different students received 86 scholarship awards totaling $140,550 to support the next phase of their education. 

Debbie Jones, executive director for the Chippewa County Community Foundation, is a former financial aid officer at Lake Superior State University. She said scholarships like these are very important to student success. 

"I do have firsthand knowledge by being a former financial aid officer and the impact that these scholarships make," said Jones. "In some cases, it's the difference in whether they can go to college or not, or whether it means they're able to attend the university versus a community college." 

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The Chippewa County Community Foundation supports 49 different scholarship funds totaling $3.2 million that support hundreds of students in recent years. 

The scholarships are donated from various community members and foundations. Some are designated for a specific reason, such as encouraging students to study STEM programs, participate in certain sports or give them the ability to attend certain schools.

"We will tailor a scholarship based on the donor's wishes, we can be very flexible in designing a scholarship. That's how we bring a lot of value to the donor, by being able to really design something that has what's important to them," said Jones. "Whether it be the character of the student, whether it be what program they're going into, or if they need financial help."

The foundation also established six new scholarship funds this year: the Mike Ellis Memorial Scholarship, Katie Robinson Memorial Scholarship, Betty Bailey Memorial Scholarship, Nuszkowski Family Scholarship, Raber Area Sportsman Scholarship and the Society of American Military Engineers James Bray Memorial Scholarship.

These scholarships support students who graduated from several different school districts, including Brimley, DeTour, Pickford, Rudyard, Whitefish Township and Sault Area Schools.

"It's one of our main focuses here, at the community foundation, is working with donors to establish scholarships," said Jones. 

People interested in establishing a scholarship or donating to an existing scholarship can email cccf@lighthouse.net. or visit the community foundation website. 

Contact Brendan Wiesner: BWiesner@Sooeveningnews.com