(June 2025) - The Community Foundation of Western North Carolina (CFWNC) approved scholarships totaling $586,500 to 94 WNC students in 59 schools in 20 counties. More than 50 volunteers from the community worked to review applications and select recipients.
Top recipients are:
- Caitlyn Jordan of NC School of Science and Mathematics - Morganton who was awarded the Irving Jacob Reuter Award, valued at $60,000 over four years.
- Asa Rogers of Asheville High School who was awarded the Marilyn Lester and William Lester Scholarship, valued at $40,000 over four years.
- Wesley Morgan of Andrews High School who was awarded from the Reichman Scholarship Fund, valued at $30,000 over four years.
- Nanci Romero-Juarez of Mitchell High School who was awarded the Charles C. and Suzanne R. McKinney Scholarship, valued at $20,000 over four years.
- Keith Tran of Henderson County Early College High School who was awarded the Nathaniel Ellis Cannady, Jr. Scholarship, valued at $20,000 over four years.
- Joshua Zeigler of Charles D. Owen High School who was awarded the Nathaniel Ellis Cannady, Jr. Scholarship, valued at $20,000 over four years.
- Laci Bivins of McDowell Early College High School who was awarded the WNC Regional - Clyde and Mildred Wright Endowment Fund Scholarship, valued at $20,000 over four years.
- Stella Hariyono of NC School of Science and Mathematics - Morganton who was awarded the WNC Regional - Clyde and Mildred Wright Endowment Fund Scholarship, valued at $20,000 over four years.
- Oscar Magana of Charles D. Owen High School who was awarded the WNC Regional - Clyde and Mildred Wright Endowment Fund Scholarship, valued at $20,000 over four years, and the A. Joe Hemphill, Jr., Scholarship, valued at $12,000 over four years.
- Jordyn McCollim of Lake Lure Classical Academy who was awarded the WNC Regional - Clyde and Mildred Wright Endowment Fund Scholarship, valued at $20,000 over four years.
- Maya Tilson of School of Inquiry & Life Sciences at Asheville (SILSA) who was awarded the WNC Regional - Clyde and Mildred Wright Endowment Fund Scholarship, valued at $20,000 over four years, and the R. Walker Geitner III Memorial Scholarship, valued at $2,000.
- Ever van Rijssen of A.C. Reynolds High School who was awarded the WNC Regional - Clyde and Mildred Wright Endowment Fund Scholarship, valued at $20,000 over four years.
- Charity Barnard of Avery County High School who was awarded the Powers Scholarship for Avery County Schools, valued at $16,000 over four years.
- Abbi Miller of Macon County Early College High School who was awarded the Gene and Lee Meyer Scholarship, valued at $12,000 over four years, and the Captain John G. Gardner, USMC, Vietnam Veterans Memorial Scholarship, valued at $1,000.
- Emma Ledford of Franklin High School who was awarded the Gene and Lee Meyer Scholarship, valued at $12,000 over four years.
- Nayely Mireles of Blue Ridge School who was awarded the Gene and Lee Meyer Scholarship, valued at $12,000 over four years, the Heffington Scholarship, valued at $3,000, and the WNC Regional - Newton Academy-Forster/Stevens Scholarship, valued at $1,000.
- Christopher Wells of Tuscola High School who was awarded the WNC Regional - Clyde and Mildred Wright Endowment Fund Scholarship, valued at $12,000 over four years.
“I look forward to the evaluation process each year because it always serves to reinforce that there are great young people in our community with incredible potential to shape the future positively,” said Logan Bolick, a volunteer reviewer for the Rotary Club of Asheville Harry R. Morrill Scholarship program. “It is a privilege to play a part rewarding them for their efforts as they enter their college years.”
Scholarship endowments can have broad eligibility criteria or can be focused on a particular school or county, offered to students pursuing a degree in a stated field or available to those who will attend a designated college or university.