WATERBURY, CT -- College will be more affordable for 420 students in Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills thanks to scholarships awarded by Connecticut Community Foundation for the 2018-19 academic year. The awards total more than $900,000 and are for students attending two-year and four-year schools across the country.
Later this year, students at Naugatuck Valley Community College and Central Connecticut State University will also receive scholarships from the Foundation; those institutions will determine and direct those scholarships to worthy students, many of whom are “non-traditional” — at different stages of life and careers.
Julie Loughran, president and CEO of Connecticut Community Foundation, said, “The talents and aspirations of students in Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills are extraordinary. By making scholarships available to them, donors to the Foundation have not only broken down financial barriers to college, but they’ve also made smart investments in our region. These students are the future leaders of our towns, businesses and communities.”
For decades, donors have worked with the Foundation to establish 130 college scholarship funds to benefit area students. Among the largest scholarship providers in Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills, the Foundation has awarded nearly 6,000 awards from these funds — totaling $10.4 million — to area students over the past 20 years.
Dean Jair Andrade of Naugatuck has earned a college scholarship from Connecticut Community Foundation for the second consecutive year. His award was made possible through a bequest to the Foundation in 2001 by Vivian Hanson of Watertown, who generously established the Jack and Vivian Hanson Scholarship Fund at Connecticut Community Foundation for promising students like Andrade.
Andrade will attend Connecticut College and major in American studies this fall. Last month, he completed an associate’s degree at Housatonic Community College.
Of donors to scholarship funds at Connecticut Community Foundation, Andrade said, “Their work, and their donations, really do make a difference in the lives of multiple people. It’s definitely made a difference in my life and there’s no reason to question that it won’t make a difference in the lives of others.”
View the complete list of students who have been awarded scholarships by Connecticut Community Foundation for the 2018-19 academic year at www.conncf.org/scholars.
To learn more about establishing a scholarship fund at the Foundation, visit www.conncf.org/create-a-fund/.
Established in 1923, Connecticut Community Foundation fosters creative partnerships that build rewarding lives and thriving communities in 21 towns in Greater Waterbury and the Litchfield Hills. The Foundation provides leadership in addressing the region’s critical issues, strengthens local nonprofit organizations through grants and technical assistance programs, and works with individuals, families and corporations to administer charitable funds. Learn more at www.conncf.org.
Video: Dean Jair Andrade of Naugatuck, a Connecticut Community Foundation scholarship recipient, describes how his community service in Naugatuck has fueled his desire to pursue a career that will “somehow try to give people more appreciation for where they live, their neighborhoods and for the stories that people carry.”
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Contact:
Carol Buckheit
Director of Communications
Connecticut Community Foundation
cbuckheit@conncf.org
203-753-1315, x107
Website: www.conncf.org