Gloucester Twp. Day Scholarship Committee Pushes Past $900K Mark

Monday night was a big night for the Gloucester Township Day Scholarship Committee.

Perhaps not as big a night as it was for the 40 college-bound high school seniors who were selected for $1,000 scholarships, but a big night nonetheless.

Now in its 27th year, the Scholarship Committee crossed the all-time $900,000 mark with Monday night's pingpong ball selection process.

Since its first year giving out scholarships—when it awarded eight students with $500 scholarships in 1986—the committee has provided a total of $914,200 in college-assistance funds to more than 1,500 high school seniors from Gloucester Township, according to Dick Hollinshead, committee treasurer.

This year, 402 Gloucester Township residents from 11 high schools submitted applications and were ruled eligible for one of the 40 scholarships.

Eligible to receive the scholarships each year are all high school seniors who have lived in Gloucester Township for at least three years, been accepted to an accredited college, scored a minimum of 1200 on the SAT or 17 on the ACT, and either attained a place in the top 50 percent of his or her graduating class or earned a minimum 2.5 GPA.

As Hollinshead put it: "We're not just giving out scholarships to the valedictorian. The idea here is that many people throughout the community contribute to the scholarship through the various events that we do, so we wanted to have a scholarship that is as inclusive as possible."

Each of the 402 students was assigned a number that was written on one ball placed in the big, red bingo cage placed at the front of Council chambers for the occasion.

Mayor David Mayer, who joined Council President Glen Bianchini and Councilwomen Michelle Gentek and Tracey Trotto in selecting scholarship winners, lauded the committee for its efforts.

"The committee should be commended for the job that they do in providing that opportunity for an education to our students here in Gloucester Township. I think that is really remarkable, because I don't know too many other communities that have a scholarship committee and give back to their students as we do here," Mayer said. "It's just another reason Gloucester Township is a great place to live."

In addition to the 40 winners, the elected officials pulled 10 pingpong balls for alternates, who are eligible to receive the $1,000 scholarships in the event any winners decide not to attend college.

Hollinshead took the opportunity to let everyone know the date for the Scholarship Committee's biggest fundraiser—Gloucester Township Day, which will be held this year on Saturday, June 2.

"As many of you know—you live in all different parts of the township—some of you had to travel a number of miles just to get where the Council is located tonight," Hollinshead said. "It's a big township. And it's not really a township where there's a lot of community 'downtowniness.' And what we want to do is try to bring the community together, primarily through a variety of events that we schedule throughout the year."

Click here for a list of 2012 scholarship winners and alternates.

All alternates will receive a minimum of $100.

Harry Morgan is chairman, Mayer honorary chairman and Judy Gore secretary of Gloucester Township Day Scholarship Committee. Members are Jessica Botte, Judy Calabrese, Debi Carr, John Custodio, Nicole D'Amico, Police Chief W. Harry Earle, Joan Eller-Hinski, Bill Fagan, Kate Kochanski-Coll, Sandi Love, Shane McNichol, Suzanne Moore, Council Vice President Orlando Mercado, Kristina Roehr, Louise Tyciak, and Judy Weiserth.