Designated Funds > Peninsula College Fund
PENINSULA COLLEGE FUND DOUBLES ITS NUMBER OF COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIPS!
The Peninsula College Fund (PCF) was developed in 2005 by Charles Schmuck and a group of friends concerned over the large numbers of high school seniors in East Palo Alto, East Menlo Park and
As part of their charter to help minority students hampered by significant financial needs, PCF limits its scholarships to those seniors with cumulative GPA’s between 3.25 and 3.8 – or more simply the “B” students - a group often overlooked by universities and other scholarship programs. Each student receives $3,000 a year for four years, as long as they maintain 12 units and a 2.5 average GPA. PCF students are paired with a dedicated mentor who maintains regular contact with the student and provides assistance in getting summer jobs or internships in their area of study.
After three years and the help of many hard working and generous friends, PCF now serves five high schools in the Mid-Peninsula area and has 18 students currently in college. Included in that group are nine students who were presented with scholarship awards in front of 100 attendees, including family, past scholarship recipients, donors, mentors and board members, at the June 21, 2008 Awards Ceremony at The Menlo School in Atherton. At that Awards Ceremony, Sharifa Wilson, site director of the local College Track office, shared the daunting statistics summarizing how few “eastside students” graduate from high school, let alone college. She congratulated the students and their families on being among the few, and encouraged them to complete their education and return to the area to do the work that still needs to be done.
