CAMARILLO — The Ventura County Community Foundation awarded nearly $1.3 million in scholarships at the recent Scholarship Awards Reception at the Ventura County Office of Education, attended by more than 400 students, their families and the donors who made the awards possible, the organization reported in a media release.
Almost 270 local students received 323 scholarships from the community foundation for college and career training. This included the Sean Stephen Harris Memorial Scholarship for a graduating Adolfo Camarillo High School student. Harris, who died suddenly at the end of his junior year, would have graduated with his ACHS classmates in this year.
“These scholarships are made possible by the hundreds of donors who wish to invest in the future of Ventura County, and what better way than to support our youth,” said Hugh Ralston, VCCF president and CEO. “These scholarships make the difference for many Ventura County students. One student noted his scholarship meant he could make a living with his brain and not his back. The opportunity to go to college can change a student, a family and a community for the better.”
Since its founding in 1987, the Ventura County Community Foundation has awarded more than $10.7 million (check this) in scholarships and is the local leader in granting financial aid to Ventura County youth.
VCCF’s annual scholarship season would be impossible without the dozens of volunteers who work for months behind the scenes since the January application deadline. Nineteen volunteers contributed a total of 664 hours processing the 2,123 applications received; screening the applications to make sure they complied with the guidelines and intent set by donors. Several committees with a total of 27 volunteers reviewed and rated the 1,121 eligible applications and made recommendations, which were approved by the VCCF board of directors in early May.
For more information on VCCF’s scholarship programs, go to vccf.org/scholarship or contact Program Officer Virginia Weber at 805-330-6669 or vweber@vccf.org.
ABOUT VCCF: VCCF invests the charitable capital that drives the philanthropic engines of Ventura County. Its portfolio performance ranks in the top 11 of all community foundations in the United States for long-term growth. With total assets of more than $135 million, as of March 30, its mission is to promote and enable philanthropy to improve our community for good for ever, which it does through grantmaking, scholarships and training at its Center for Nonprofit Leadership. It owns the VCCF Nonprofit Center in Camarillo —- a place where nonprofits and the community can come together to work together. Visit vccf.org or call 805-988-0196.