MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE ALBANY, Ga. -- The Officer Spouses Club held its 2010 Scholarship and Charity Luncheon at the Officer’s Club May 12 to honor local charities and recipients of its annual college scholarships.
The club awarded seven individuals college scholarships and gave seven local charities thousands in donations.
This year a total of $14,500 was raised at a March 26 auction, and $12,000 was given to seven deserving high school students while $2,500 was split between the seven charities.
“The OSC is a social organization for the spouses to network and build friendships,” said Stephanie White, OSC chairman. “We are a nonprofit organization and our only fundraiser is the yearly auction. This is how we choose to give back to the community that supports us.”
This year, OSC raised more and gave away more money than in year’s past.
Although the charitable organization gives away thousands yearly, it has to narrow the scholarship money to students who show that they are well-rounded.
According to Terri Sykes, former acting vice president, the scholarship committee consists of representatives from every facet. Only spouses of active duty and retired, civilian spouses and civilian employees are allowed to be qualified for the scholarships.
“Every member of the committee receives their own set of scholarship packets to read a few days prior to the voting. The applicant’s names are removed to keep it unbiased,” White said. “Each voter thoroughly reads each packet and scores them using an accompanied guideline sheet.”
The guideline sheet contains nine information blocks that the applicants are graded on by the committee.
It ranges from SAT scores, volunteer work, special honors and awards, three letters of recommendation, an essay and extracurricular activities.
This year awards went to Kevin T. Chesire, Danielle R. Whitaker, Ashton N. Peeples, Jordan R. Richter, Rachael E. Crew, Jessica A. Glaeser and Kacey L. Merrit.
“I put in a lot of work over the past four years balancing football, track and tennis and maintaining a 4.0 grade point average,” Chesire said. “This award will help me at the University of Florida where I hope to pursue becoming an anesthesiologist.”
The charities awarded this year were The Anchorage, Inc., Albany Advocacy Resource Center, Sowega Council on Aging, Girls Inc. of Albany, the First Tee of Albany, Hope for the Warriors and the American Cancer Society.