Published 11:04 am Thursday, August 14, 2025
By Christopher Keizur
A local service organization is offering scholarships to help local high schoolers achieve their dreams.
The Gateway-Gresham Elks Lodge #1805 has launched the 2025-2026 Most Valuable Student scholarship contest in conjunction with the Elks National Foundation. Scholarships are available to high school seniors who are United States citizens. Applicants do not have to be related to a member of the Elks. Instead, the judging criteria are based on academics, leadership, service and financial need.
The application is done online and must be submitted by November 12. The 500 national winners will be announced in April 2026. The top 20 national finalists will participate in the Leadership Weekend in Chicago and receive $30,000 scholarships. The other 480 runners-up will get $4,000 scholarships.
This year, the Elks National Foundation is investing more than $5 million in college scholarships. Recipients graduate from college at a rate of 90% — a full 30% higher than the national average.
Applications and more details can be found online at enf.elks.org/MVS. There is assistance available locally. Call the Gateway-Gresham Elks Lodge at 503-666-1805 and ask for Tenora Grigsby, scholarship chair.
