The Founders Fund Inc. Awards New Scholarships to 29 Collier County Students

Naples, FL, May 22, 2012 --(PR.com)-- Local students were honored at a scholarship awards reception given by the Founders Fund, Inc. on May 1st, 2012 at the Club Pelican Bay. Each spring, the Founders Fund awards new scholarships to local Collier County students seeking financial assistance in their pursuit of post high school education.

This year, 29 students from 11 area high schools received renewable four-year scholarships from the Founders Fund. The non-profit/tax-exempt charitable organization, founded in 1991, has many original founding members still active in the fundraising efforts that guarantee new scholarships are awarded annually. To date, over two million dollars in scholarships have been distributed to more than 500 local students.

This year the Founders Fund worked to add additional “named scholarship” opportunities for donors and supporters to lend their name. The effort was to increase the annual scholarship from $2,000 to $2,500 for students during their first two years of college. As a result of this year’s fundraiser, 29 new named scholarships were created.

2012 Named Scholarship Recipients:

Barron Collier High School: Brooke Saurbier received the Karla and Frank Albanese Founders Scholarship; Austin Adams received the M&I Wealth Management Founders Scholarship
Community School: Andrea Moreno received the Mercedes-Benz of Naples Founders Scholarship; Juan Ortiz received the John Levy and Gail Rothenberg Founders Scholarship
Everglades High School: Meggan Harrington received the Kay and Sam McCullough Founders Scholarship; Brianna Daniels received the Ann Lee and Jay Levitt Founders Scholarship
Golden Gate High School: Revenel Metayer received the Mercedes-Benz of Naples Founders Scholarship; Claudia Anez-Zabala received the Tom McCausland Memorial Scholarship; Ashley Joseph received the Morgan Stanley Founders Scholarship; Sergio Alvarez received the Gordon MacKenzie Memorial Scholarship; Adline Metayer received the Bob and Hanna Nevins Founders Scholarship
Gulf Coast High School: Holly Weinstein received the PNC Founders Scholarship; Claudia Hernandez received the Wendy and John Lord Founders Scholarship; Daniel Evans received the Sue and Rob McNaghten Founders Scholarship
Immokalee High School: Fatima Soto received the Joan and George Thomas Founders Scholarship; Ruby Mendez received the Tom and Mary Lear Founders Scholarship; Erica Martinez received the Karen Pulte Founders Scholarship; Clara Herrera received the Ruthann and Tom McCarty Founders Scholarship; Linda Jean-Pierre received the Maureen and John Homstad Founders Scholarship
Lely High School: Gary Hardy received the Northern Trust Founders Scholarship; Stephanie Wolf received the Josie and Geoff Gibson Founders Scholarship
Lorenzo Walker: Daniela Salazar received the Julian and George Phillips Founders Scholarship; Shakira Minor received the George and Elsa Gibson Founders Scholarship
Naples High School: Kyle Talko received the Morgan Stanley Founders Scholarship; Devin Scott received the Jean and Bill Harford Memorial Scholarship; Anthony DeLuca received the Tim and Sharon Ubben Founders Scholarship
Palmetto Ridge High School: Michael Azu received the Ed Brennan Founders Scholarship
St. John Neumann: Amanda Alty received the John and Katie Ogden Founders Scholarship; Cassandra Fernandez received the Clara and Ron Marks Founders Scholarship

For more information about scholarships or the Founders Fund, Inc., contact Sue Davenport at 239-593-0124 or visit www.thefoundersfundinc.org.