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JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Right now, thousands of high school seniors across the First Coast are choosing where they’re going to go to college next year. It’s a truly exciting time for families, but then the reality of paying for school starts to set in.
In this week’s Stories of Service, First Coast News shares how a Marine veteran in Jacksonville hopes to lessen that burden for some students.
Last year, Charlie Griffin and his daughter Carly started a scholarship fund worth $10,000 for students who want to attend HBCUs, historically Black colleges and universities in Northeast Florida.
“I said Carly, it’s got to be better this year than it was last year, so we decided to up the ante,” said Charlie Griffin.
This year, First Coast Community Development, Inc. is offering 50 $1,000 scholarships for high school seniors, as well as undergraduates interested in pursuing a degree in a STEM field at an HBCU.
“We wanted to make sure we have people who are looking like us and thinking like us, and dedicated to helping the Black community and making the community come together as a whole,” said Carly Griffin.
Application qualifications can be seen on their website here, but a key point to the scholarship is prior community service.
“I think it’s important to be invested in the community that you’re going to live in,” Charlie Griffin told First Coast News. “And do something that you can truly be remembered for in your community because you never know who you’re going to touch.”
Charlie touches the community every week when he uses his retirement checks to pay for meals for the homelessness in Jacksonville. The Griffins hope this money launches the next generation of leaders.
“We want to be in a position to put others out in the community and make a difference,” said Carly Griffin. “I’m so grateful that we can do this for another year and grateful that there are so many eager students just a bit younger than me, but still have that drive to make a difference.”
The deadline to apply for the scholarship is May 1st.
If you have a Story of Service that you would like First Coast News to profile, send an email to storiesofservice@firstcoastnews.com.
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