Community Corner

Over $113,000 Raised for Seabrook Scholars' Fund; 39 Area Students Benefit

Graduating high school seniors will start college in the fall with almost $5,000 each in scholarships.

Graduating high school seniors who work at Seabrook Village in Tinton Falls will take almost $5,000 in scholarship money away with them to college, compliments of the retirement community's Scholars' Fund that raised more than $113,000 this year.

Thirty-nine students recived a scholarship totaling $4,800 each, or $600 per semester, for four years of full-time undergraduate study, according to a release from Seabrook.

Funding for the scholarships is based upon voluntary donations made by residents and staff through fundraisers and individual contributions. The scholarship funding is paid directly to the students' respective secondary education institutions each semester.

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"The Scholars' Fund is Seabrook's way of providing educational assistance for the bright, dedicated and hard-working students who are part of our community," said Art Sparks, executive director of the continuing care retirement community.

Scholarship recipients had to meet criteria for eligibility, including working 500 hours at Seabrook for their junior and senior years of high school, employee performance and plans to attend college or trade school on a full-time basis.

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This year, 621 donations were made to the fund, with a total of more than $937,000 raised since the Scholars' Fund began in 1999. When scholarships were first handed out in 2004, only four students met eligiblity requirements, according to a release.

"The generous residents who  contribute to the fund year after year are not only doing a good deed, but they are investing in our future," said Ann Marie Matthews, who heads up philanthropy at Seabrook. "The Scholars' Fund program gives the hard-working student employees a wonderful opportunity to advance their education."


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