Jean Young of Monomoy Dollars for Scholars has been selected as a 2017 Dollars for Scholars Volunteer of the Year finalist by Scholarship America.
The Volunteer of the Year Award honors and recognizes a Dollars for Scholars volunteer who has given outstanding service to their chapter and exemplifies the commitment of Dollars for Scholars, a program of Scholarship America, to making postsecondary success possible for all students.
Monomoy Dollars for Scholars will receive $1,000 for their scholarship program from Scholarship America in honor of Jean Young. A scholarship named “The Young Helping Hands Scholarship” with $500 for graduating seniors and the “The Young Helping Hands Continuing Education Scholarship” for $500 will be created for the 2018-2019 year.
“Organizations don’t work unless everyone is focused on the goal. I am unbelievably lucky to work with other volunteers whose hearts and minds are like mine: focused on making sure that our young adults in financial need have enough money to get to college, stay there and graduate. ” — Jean Young
Monomoy Dollars for Scholars bio and achievements
In 1964, a group of Chatham residents got together to address the problem of too many kids not being able to go to college because of financial need. In 1966, Chatham decided to become a chapter of Citizen’s Scholarship Foundation of America, Inc. In that first year, $2600 was awarded to 19 students at Chatham High School.
In 2013-2014, the chapter reaffirmed its affiliation to the Citizen’s Scholarship Foundation of America – now called Scholarship America Dollars for Scholars® — named itself Chatham Dollars for Scholars. Our mission to provide financial assistance to all students within our chapter’s district.
Our Chapter has continued to raise money through donations and has awarded scholarships every year to graduating seniors and continuing education students based primarily on financial need. Between 1966 and 2016, the Chapter has awarded almost $2 million dollars to nearly 2000 students.
In 2014, Harwich and Chatham regionalized into one school system with one high school. Our “Sharks” found that combining was easy and within months there was little noticeable difference and a lot of enthusiasm, joy and spirit that was felt when you entered the building, at sporting and cultural events, and, at graduation. Taking a cue from the kids, Chatham Dollars for Scholars reached out to Harwich to find like-minded individuals who believed in higher education for kids. On June 17, 2015, Chatham Dollars for Scholars voted to change its name to Monomoy Dollars for Scholars, and with new Harwich board members, fully embraced the concept of a combined and unified approach to scholarships for all graduates of Monomoy Regional High School and residents of Harwich and Chatham. The board has forged a new energy with our new members and as a combined and dedicated group, we can begin to construct a pathway to reach out to the residents of both towns, educating the public as to what we do and the importance of supporting our efforts to provide higher education to all of our students – both recent graduates as well as those now in college.
In 2016-2017, we gave over $120,000 in scholarships through 60 Senior Scholarships and 18 Continuing Education Scholarships. This past year we worked with the high school to start an annual Hoop-a-thon as a fundraiser. Future plans are to begin the process of name recognition and asking businesses to step up to the plate and donate what they can. These young adults are ours, regardless of which town they live in, and college is essential to their success as well as our own.
About Scholarship America
For nearly 60 years, Scholarship America has worked directly with students, parents, donors, colleges, businesses and communities to empower people to achieve their educational goals. As the nation’s largest private education support organization, having distributed over $3.7 billion to more than 2.3 million students, Scholarship America is now working to further engage the private sector to support programs and policies that advance equity in postsecondary education and help students overcome barriers to access, persistence and attainment. More information is available at scholarshipamerica.org.
