Since 2011, The Georgia Club Foundation has awarded $125,000 in scholarships to deserving young high school graduates in our community. These scholarship awards would not have been possible without the financial support of David and Jane Chu and the Chu Family Foundation. Since the inception of the scholarship program in 2011, the Chu Family Foundation has contributed nearly $100,000 for TGC Foundation scholarship awards. David and Jane have a passion for educating our young people and have modeled the impact of giving back in their community. The Georgia Club Foundation is grateful for their educational vision, leadership, and support. As a result of their generosity and dedication, TGC Foundation was able to include employee scholarships in 2018 for deserving students who are employed by The Georgia Club. In the past two years, TGC Foundation has funded $16,000 in employee scholarships in addition to the high school grants.
Recipients of the high school scholarships are determined by four metrics: financial need, scholarship, leadership and community service. TGC Foundation High School Scholarship Committee, composed of seven members of TGC, solicits applications through high school counselors. They then have the hard but rewarding work of reading, analyzing, scoring, and selecting the seniors for these awards. Members of the committee enjoy getting to know the students through their applications and essays and report that they are frequently awe-struck by the rigor of the courses and activities in which these young people are engaged.
Once the scholarship committee selects recipients, the TGC Foundation treasurer will transfer the funds directly to the university account for the students. The young people who have received the high school senior awards have gone on to colleges and universities such as UGA, Georgia Tech, North Georgia University, West Georgia University, University of Tennessee, Stanford, and Princeton. They are pursuing degrees such as pre-med, journalism, political science, education, business, and accounting.
The newly founded employee scholarship has a similar process, although the application is sent out through TGC General Manager Reggie Kratzer and each division head. The 2019 employee scholarships were awarded to Meagan Hobbs, Christian Jimenez, Caramie McFarlin, and Dakota Whaley. Meagan is pursuing a degree in global journalism in the Grady College at the University of Georgia. Her goal is to work with those whose voices are not often heard around the world. Christian is TGC’s outstanding manager of food and beverage. He is pursuing a degree in construction management from Georgia Southern University. Caramie is working to complete her degree in health sciences from Athens Technical College and become a dental hygienist. Besides working hard at TGC, she plans on interning in a dental office with the hopes of one day becoming a dentist. Dakota is completing his undergraduate degree at UGA in public and international affairs. Besides holding two jobs and attending class, Dakota is on the UGA dean’s list and has earned a 3.6 GPA. Dakota will begin law school at UGA in the fall of 2019. As a lawyer, he hopes to focus on bettering the lives of others in his community and around the world.
The Georgia Club Foundation hopes to provide continued academic assistance to the outstanding young people who will be building the future of our world. We welcome your support for the scholarship program and are grateful for the continued support of the Chu Family Foundation. If you would like to learn more about our scholarship program and how you can make a difference in the life of a deserving young student, please contact Mary Anne Charron at macharron@comast.net.