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Scholarships Provide Valuable Assistance

Anne Wenzel Special to the Daily

Many students pursuing college degrees in Colorado and elsewhere are receiving scholarships to help with tuition and other costs.

We all know how expensive a college education has gotten. College scholarships can be awarded based on academic excellence, financial need, ability in a particular sport, or other criteria. The institutions of higher learning frequently have their own scholarship programs to enable students they have admitted to attend their institutions.

And many scholarships are established and awarded by donor families and companies that wish to support a certain kind of student to pursue their dreams and fulfill their educational goals.



Community foundations across the country offer scholarships of one kind or another to graduating seniors and/or the nontraditional students wishing to further their education.

Here in western Colorado, the Western Colorado Community Foundation offers two scholarship programs. Both scholarships were established by people in the community who have done so in honor of a loved one – a beloved spouse, a mother or father, a dear friend.

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The scholarships bear that honored person’s name. Like other kinds of endowed funds that the community foundation manages, donations to a scholarship fund “keep on growing, keep on giving,” providing financial support for college for worthy young people for years to come.

The Lew Goodhart Scholarship was established by a group of Lew’s friends several years ago after he died tragically. A number of people who knew and loved Lew have donated to this fund. The Lew Goodhart scholarship has been awarded to three individuals so far. This year the winner is Nathan Atkinson, who is studying at Mesa State.

A new scholarship is the Faye Shofner Tally Scholarship, established this year and awarded to seven graduating seniors. The donor family maintains homes in Eagle County and Mesa County, and winners were selected from both counties. This scholarship honors the donor family’s mother, the late Faye Shofner Tally of Justin, Texas. An accomplished pianist and organist, Mrs. Tally attended the College of Industrial Arts, the forerunner of Texas Women’s University in Denton. She was an avid proponent of education and gave lectures on her extensive world travels to civic, educational and church groups. Mrs. Tally, who visited and loved Colorado throughout her lifetime, died in 2000.

The Faye Shofner Tally Scholarship is designed to help young people who have financial need and are academically gifted to pursue their educational goals at the college level. A total of $22,000 in scholarships have been awarded for the coming academic year. The two winners from Eagle County are Whitney Simmonds, graduating from Vail Mountain School and attending Colby College in the fall; and Dak Steiert, graduating from Battle Mountain High School and going to Stanford University.

Education is a great gift to give a young person. A college degree can open doors and expand opportunities. If you are interested in more information about the Western Colorado Community Foundation scholarship program, please feel free to give us a call.

Anne Wenzel is the executive director of the Western Colorado Community Foundation, which manages charitable endowments and makes grants to benefit the residents of western Colorado.


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