Four Portland Students to Receive 20th Annual Neil Kelly Memorial Scholarship
Portland, Oregon (PRWEB) March 22, 2017 -- On Tuesday, May 23, 2017, The Albina Rotary Club will award the 2017 Neil Kelly Scholarships to four outstanding North/Northeast Portland high school students. The scholarships, which provide each student up to $8,000 for college education, will be presented at the 20th annual Neil Kelly Scholarship Awards Luncheon.
The Neil Kelly Memorial Scholarship is dedicated to recognizing high school seniors who live in the Albina Rotary service area for their academic achievements and community service. Past winners are graduates of Jefferson, Benson, Madison, Cleveland, De LaSalle North, Central Catholic, Roosevelt, Grant, and Open Meadow high schools and the McCoy Academy who have performed hundreds of hours of volunteer work and community service, often while working part time and weekend jobs to assist their families.
The 2017 awards luncheon will feature Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler as keynote speaker. The event is open to the public, with proceeds supporting the scholarship endowment fund.
2017 Neil Kelly Memorial Scholarship Awards Luncheon
- What: 20th annual awards luncheon to announce the four new scholarship recipients
- Keynote: Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler
- When: Tuesday, May 17, 2016, 11:30 am – 1:30 pm
- Where: The Moda Center’s Rose Room
- Why: To help deserving high school students afford the opportunity to attend college.
- Cost: Reserved luncheon tickets are $75 per person, which includes a scholarship fund contribution. $50 of the price is tax–deductible.
- Contact: The public is welcome. Tickets and information available by calling Margie Davidson at (503) 287-6930 or Tom Jenkins at (503) 305-7682.
About The Neil Kelly Memorial Scholarship
Albina Rotary Club established the scholarship program in 1998 to honor the late Neil Kelly, a prominent citizen of Northeast Portland, founder of the Neil Kelly Company, and a charter Albina Rotary member.
“The education of our youth is an issue of primary importance to our communities, our state and the nation,” said Albina Rotary Scholarship Chair Tom Jenkins. “While Neil himself did not have a college degree, he believed that completion of BA, BS or AA degree was an important first step toward success in life.”
When Kelly passed away in 1995, the Club established an endowment fund to finance scholarships for young men and women who live in one of the 15 neighborhoods that make up North and Northeast Portland, in honor of his commitment to community service and education. In 1998, Albina Rotary awarded a single scholarship worth $1,000. Today, each Neil Kelly Scholarship recipient receives $2,000 per year, and the award is renewable for three additional years as long as the student remains in good standing with his or her school.
Throughout the years, Albina Rotary Club has taken a strategic approach to expanding the scholarship program, according to Jenkins. “As the funds available from the earnings of the endowment fund have grown, the board believed that increasing the amount of the award rather than additional scholarships best meets the ever-increasing financial cost of a year in college. It is our hope to not only increase the amount of the dollars offered but also be able to expand, offering help to more students.”
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Don Scharff, Neil Kelly Company, http://neilkelly.com, +1 503-331-9423, [email protected]
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