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The Carson Scholars Fund was founded in 1994 by world-renowned
Johns Hopkins pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin S. Carson and
his wife, Candy. The vision for the Carson Scholars Fund came
from the Carson's observation that many school display cases
were filled with large trophies paying tribute to their teams
sports' achievements, while honor students traditionally
received a pin or certificate. Then, after reading a research
study stating that students in the United States ranked 21 out
of 22 countries - next to the bottom of the list - in science
and math, the Carson's felt alarmed and compelled to take
action.
The crisis needed to be addressed. The concept was simple, yet
unique. Students in grades 4-11 who had at least a 3.75 grade
point average and demonstrated strong humanitarian qualities
would be recommended by school officials to apply for $1,000
scholarships. If a student won a scholarship, it would be
invested for his or her college education until graduation from
high school and they would be designated as a Carson Scholar.
Winners could reapply annually as long as they maintained their
GPA. The awards would be paid directly to the four-year
accredited institution of higher learning, on their behalf.
Saturday, March 21st, 2009 is a day that will go down in Carson
Scholars Fund history as forty-eight of Lee County, Florida's
"best and brightest" students were honored at the 1st Annual
Carson Scholars Fund Awards Banquet. It was a day of pride for
philanthropist Dr. Bill Frey and other community members as they
saw their dream to bring the scholarship program to Lee County
come to fruition. Their tireless efforts allowed every
elementary school in Lee County the opportunity to recognize and
reward one of their top students for their academic excellence
and humanitarian efforts. The 2010 and 2011 scholarship banquets continued
the vision, as once again, a fifth grade student at each elementary school was
recognized and awarded a scholarship in the presence of the
business community.
There are currently 20 permanently endowed elementary schools in
Lee County. The Foundation holds a matching fund for donations
toward an individual scholarship or a permanent endowment for
schools. The goal of Dr. Frey and the Foundation is to
permanently endow all 49 elementary schools in the School
District of Lee County. Call the Foundation for information on how you can support a student.
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