The Missouri Community Service Commission (MCSC) awarded $1,000 scholarships to high school students who displayed outstanding dedication to volunteerism during their annual awards banquet held at Camden on the Lake in Lake Ozark on June 26, 2019.
The Bayer-MCSC High School Student-Volunteer Scholarship Program recognizes high school students who exhibit leadership through volunteering. High school students of every grade level – including those in accredited home schools in Missouri – are eligible.
Scholarship recipients included Sally Gacheru of Hazelwood West High School, Karen Guo of Lindbergh High School, Camron Leivian of Linn High School, Allison McDonald of Timberland High School, Dennis Muigai of Hazelwood Central High School, Delaney Squires of Francis Howell High School, Anna Stetzel of Lindbergh High School, and Kylie Worley of Parkview High School. Each recipient received a $1,000 scholarship for service to their communities to be applied towards a college or university of his or her choice.
“We are very pleased by the continued support of Bayer and the high caliber of the award winners and students,” said MCSC Executive Director Don Stamper. “Fulfilling our mission of service wouldn’t be possible without the great work of volunteers like them.”
Additional awardees included those AmeriCorps members who received the AmeriCorps State Service Award.
Darius Caffey of the Missouri College Advising Corps (MCAC) was recognized for his ability to provide information and support to students and their families on navigating the complexities of the college admissions, financing, and planning processes at Winnetonka High School in North Kansas City. Mary Kate Kelly, also of MCAC, was recognized for her capacity to help first-generation college students at Parkview High School in Springfield to secure financial aid and scholarships to attend a college or university. John Brinkley of the Missouri River Communities Network in Columbia was recognized for providing lessons to elementary students to teach them how to grow food and emphasize the importance of healthy eating.
“These students and AmeriCorps members are incredible models of service across our state,” said Michael Lanahan, Director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Business and Community Solutions Division. “These talented individuals, along with MCSC and its partner organizations, are a critical part of community development in Missouri.”
MCSC, which was founded by the Missouri legislature in 1994, is part of the Missouri Department of Economic Development’s Business and Community Solutions Division. It works as a point organization for promoting and recognizing service, volunteerism, and supports quality service projects in communities across the state.
For more information about MCSC, visit movolunteers.org.
About the Missouri Community Service Commission:
The Missouri Community Service Commission (MCSC) is located within the Missouri Department of Economic Development. Its mission is to connect Missourians of all ages and backgrounds in an effort to improve unmet community needs through direct and tangible service. MCSC serves as the administrator of AmeriCorps state funding in Missouri by awarding monetary grants and providing technical assistance and support to its sub-grantees.
AmeriCorps is administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, a federal agency that engages millions of Americans in service through AmeriCorps, Senior Corps, the Social Innovation Fund, and the Volunteer Generation Fund, and leads the President’s national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit www.NationalService.gov.