McKenzie: Scholarship money comes in all forms | Daily Progress

Money is everywhere, if you're trying to get to college, but you have to look for it.

The CIA has a scholarship program for college-bound high school students.

So does the American Legion, Prudential Insurance, SunTrust Bank, the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research and the Elks Club.

Even Coca-Cola and Kentucky Fried Chicken are in on the gig, giving away thousands of dollars to qualifying high school seniors looking to additional their education and make more money.

Then there are the small, silent scholarships that give $100, maybe $1,000 to students from local schools, churches and sports teams.

"There are so many different programs out there with so many different requirements that there's a excellent chance a student will qualify for something," said Lisa Morales, head of counseling at Charlottesville High School. "For instance, if you're a grandchild of a coal miner from Kentucky, someone may have place up your sleeve money for you. Students just have to be diligent in looking."

One such program is the Brandon Jones Memorial Scholarship Fund, administered and funded by Zion Baptist Church in North Garden.

It's a small church with the huge mission of remembering a 13-year-ancient boy with a heart of gold, voice like silver and a terminal cancer. His involvement with his church and community won him friends among his peers and elders and a scholarship in his name that bears his name. Brandon died in 1997, but the flock has kept his memory alive with more than $40,000 in awards to more than 50 students.

"The purpose of the Brandon Jones Memorial Scholarship Fund is to provide financial help in the form of scholarships to deserving Christian youth in their pursuit of higher education and to support their educational endeavors," said Bernice Johnson of Zion Baptist. "We do whatever we can to raise money. We've held bake sales and dinners. If there's an thought, if it looks like it's something we can do and earn some money, we'll do it."

The organization will hold its annual fundraiser at 5 p.m. Nov. 5 at the North Garden church, featuring the music of Carroll Auston and The Virginia Spirituals of Nelson County. Call 327-7269 for more information.

Although Brandon attended a Baptist church, the scholarship committee has made sure the awards are nondenominational. The awards have gone to students from a diversity of churches, from Methodist to Catholic.

"It doesn't matter what their church is," Mrs. Johnson said. "We want to support persons active in their churches and doing well in school and the community."

The Charlottesville Democratic Party even has a scholarship, the Grace Tinsley Scholarship, established in December 2006. A nurse, Mrs. Tinsley served on the city's School Board, worked in the public schools, worked for the Democratic Party and served on the boards of the local NAACP, Jefferson Area Board for Aging and Piedmont Virginia Community College, among others.

The fund puts out a $1,500 first-year scholarship, followed by a second-year grant of linking $500 and $800 to pay for books and is awarded to two graduates each year who have demonstrated leadership skills, community service, problem-solving skills and humor.

Or, there's the Charlottesville Track Club scholarship, awarded to members of area high school track and cross-country teams.

The scholarship is awarded annually by the club to high school seniors from any of the schools participating in the Ragged Mountain Cup cross-country meet. In addendum, seniors whose parents have a current Charlottesville Track Club family membership are eligible in any case of high school attended. The applicant must be a limb of his or her high school track or cross-country team. The scholarship is not based on athletic achievement but on "financial need, personal recommendations, academics and community and extracurricular actions, in that order," according to the club.

"Sometimes there are scholarships out there that have a lot of requirements, like recommendations and essays," Ms. Morales said. "While they may be harder to apply for, there are fewer people applying and that improves the odds."

The time to start applying, and looking, is now.

"There is a lot of money out there and even the small amounts help," Ms. Morales said. "A $250 scholarship may not signal like much, but it will buy a textbook or two."

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