A touching letter from Mary Castro, our new scholarship student will make you realize that the Scholarship Program is indeed doing a stellar job of helping local students.
Excerpts from her letter:”I cannot thank you enough for giving me this opportunity and believing in me when many said I would fail. The generosity you have shown me is immense and I promise that I will not let you down.”
She goes on to say: “My mother and father were lucky enough to finish elementary school before family obligations forced them to drop out. They spent their whole lives either picking fruit and vegetables or being promoted to paving someone’s driveway. I have seen my parents and my older brother break their backs for minimum wage. It was after seeing my parents worry about how we were going to pay the light bill that I realized that my parents were right : I had to make something of my self and the only way to do that was to try my hardest at getting the best education I could.”
“It is hard to realize that anyone is willing to help a small girl from Immokalee, but now I see hope in my parents eyes, hope that wasn’t there before. Receiving this award has so much meaning to me. Not only does it take a bit of financial burden off of my family and me but it shows something more. It shows that someone, somewhere read my story and felt that I was worth investing in, and I had potential, and that within itself is worth more than the money. I cannot thank you enough.”
OTHER SCHOLARSHIP NEWS:
Two of our former scholarship winners are out in the business world and succeeding in their field. Brooke Mundy is enjoying her job at the local NewsBank organization and Caitlin Crum has landed a position as Development Assistant and Elementary Co-coordinator at Grace Place.