Ninety-one-year-old scholarship donor Roland Abraham (middle of the third row) poses with most of the 75 high school seniors who received $2,000 awards this year from the fund he established with the Community Foundation of Sarasota County in memory of his late wife, Emily. Since 1993, Mr. Abraham has given a total of 746 scholarships for a whopping $1.2 milllion!

In a year when applications increased by almost one-third, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County awarded a record number of scholarships to graduating high school students and adult learners. With the end of the fiscal year on May 31, 2007, the amount for new and renewal scholarships approved by the board of directors reached $1,060,000. In total, 520 scholarships were granted from 54 different scholarship funds. Since 1978, the Community Foundation has awarded $6.3 million to help people reach their goals of higher education. “It’s so gratifying to know that for these young people, a college scholarship will make such a tremendous difference in their lives,” said Mimi Goodwill, scholarship coordinator. “Many of them are the first ones in their families to go to college, and often the scholarship they receive truly makes it possible for them to attend. We choose students based on their academic achievement, financial need and community involvement. We believe we are encouraging and building tomorrow’s future leaders and good citizens who will give back to their community in full measure what they’ve received.”

Pictured Above Row 1: Lara Rollinson, Boyd Sparkes, Linh Tran, Danielle McCoy, Estefany Saez-Flores, Jamie Schindewolf, Kayla Tiller, Morgan White Row 2: Shaleese Wendell, Shaniqua Rivers, Danielle Witte, Atalie Collier, Lidice Duran, Dhara Patel, Sydney Alison Kraemer, Jennifer Clark, Jacob Ziner, Alison Reimer Row 3: Alexis Branzei, Kelsey Hage, Lisa Baker, Mr. Roland Abraham, Karlie Marks, Amanda Perkins, Nicole Riccardo, Jennifer Stoltzfus, Viktoria Hutter, Jessica Erceg, Colton Kolesa Row 4: Raquel Sanchez, Amanda Moody, Jasmine Brookins, Oscar Barnes, Nori Rodriguez, Cesar Chuquizuta, Xiomara Wong, Amanda Foley, Joshua Rothenberg, April White, Katie Taaffe, Brandon Cruz, Brent Schweizer, Julie Goodwin, Daniel Nawara Row 5: Jessica Browning, Colby Keefe, Kayla Repass, John Swoboda, Alicia Cangialosi Row 6: Brian Jenkins, Dan Crotts, Justin Williams, Vince Giura, Vincent Keen, Edward Bennett IV, Michael Wood, Teresa Madsen, Amanda Rigney, James Ward, Joe Brown Row 7: Quinn Keenan, Will Waltman, Jeff Staudenmaier