The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
A Franklin High School senior was one of 12 Somerset County high school students recently awarded scholarships by the PeopleCare Center for Nonprofits in Bridgewater.
Jay Shah, who will attend Rutgers University in the Fall, was awarded a $1,000 scholarship in a special ceremony at the center.
The recipients were chosen from 57 applicants, according to a press release about the scholarships.
The Board awarded the 12 scholarships, in the amount of $1,000 each, based on community involvement, extra curricular activities, grades, and the 500-word response to the question, “Why do you think community service is important, and what have you done to make your community a better place?”
Other 2016 recipients were:
- Matthew Carty, Bernards High School – High Point University
- Isabella Barbosa-Munez, Bound Brook High School – Rutgers University
- Madara Dias, Bridgewater-Raritan High School – Rutgers University
- Brook Jiang, Bridgewater-Raritan High School – University of Pennsylvania
- Cole Harper, Bridgewater-Raritan High School – St. John Fisher College
- Michael Irwin, Hillsborough High School – University of Delaware
- Brad Allen, Montgomery High School – Indiana University
- Brenda Okereke, North Plainfield High School – TBD
- Erin Taylor, Ridge High School – TBD
- Anthony Thompson, Somerset County Vocational & Technical High School – Culinary Institute of America
- Mikayla Marin, Somerville High School – University of Scranton
“The Board of PeopleCare wants to instill an attitude of giving back to community in the hearts and minds of the next generation,” Marie Hughes, executive director of PeopleCare, said in the release. “By awarding these scholarships, we are rewarding prior efforts and hopefully helping to continue their dedication to community service well into the future.”
For more than 30 years the PeopleCare Center has provided affordable rental space for nonprofit agencies to use in facilitating their programs. The Center has been a presence in the community and has supported the nonprofits in meeting the needs of their program participants. With recognition that education is at the root of all social progress, the PeopleCare Center has expanded its outreach to the community at large, committing resources to provide college scholarships.
