Investing in their future

[Annabelle Leitner/Special to the Gazette]

The sun was shining brightly in the crisp air the morning of March 5 as 80 golfers teed off at the Ocala National Golf Club to help raise funds for the North Marion Winners Circle Scholarship fund. 

Of the past few years that North Marion High School (NMHS) alumni have hosted the golf scramble to support the Winners Circle Scholarship fund (WCS), this month’s event was by far the most successful. The tournament raised around $12,000. 

WCS was founded a few years ago by a committee of NMHS alumni, one of whom, George Keep, was in the first class to graduate North Marion in 1958. Keep later served the school as a teacher, athletics coach, vice principal and principal.

The goal in establishing the scholarship fund was that monies would be invested with the interest providing future scholarships to seniors graduating NMHS and applying to state-accredited universities, colleges and trade schools.  

According to Keep, the liaison between the WCS committee and the Public Education Foundation, the committee wanted to “start a scholarship where we weren’t dependent on how much money we got every year.” They sought to achieve this through setting up an endowment fund. 

WCS places donations into the endowment fund, which is in turn invested by the foundation. 

“They service it for us,” Keep said. “They handle all the finances—investment, taxes and all that.” 

The scholarships WCS has awarded since its birth in 2020 are due entirely to fundraisers Keep and fellow alumni have organized.

A large number of alumni and community members turned out at the March 5 golf scramble in support of this year’s endeavor, including around 30 sponsors such as Sonny’s BBQ, Advanced Electric and Cordwin Tree Service.  

The fundraisers allowed NMWC to grant $2,000 in scholarships in 2020 and $4,000 in 2021. According to Keep, they aim to award $6,000 this year, with the money raised from the golf scramble being divided between the endowment fund and the scholarships, which are awarded in the amount of $1,000.  

“I hope that it would give some of the kids a chance to further their education,” Keep said. “It’s not a lot of money but sometimes can be the thing that decides whether they go or not.”

“We encourage students to apply who want to learn a trade, not only those who want to go to college, Keep said. Plumbers, welders, nurses, doctors—we need them all.” 

“We emphasize need-based,” said he added. “If one student has thousands of dollars in scholarships already and another doesn’t have any or has a small amount, they’re going to try to make it possible for the latter to get to college.” 

Students may apply through the Public Education Foundation, where the Winners Circle Scholarship is listed among other scholarships. All scholarships awarded are placed with the school the student will attend. 

Contributions to the Winners Circle Scholarship fund may be sent to: 

Public Education Foundation of Marion County, 1239 NW 4th St., Ocala, FL 34475, or online at . www.PEFMC.org, where you can click on “donate” and scroll down to select Winners Circle Scholarship.