WHITING – Nine lucky students received generous scholarships recently, courtesy of The Pines at Whiting Scholarship Committee.
Residents at The Pines of Whiting contributed about $30,000 to the scholarship fund to be able to award these lucky students with scholarships of $3,000 or $3,500 depending on their year. The Committee recent awarded the scholarships to nine hard-working employees in a wonderful ceremony.
“This was by far our most successful year and we were so happy to be helping these great kids out,” said Mary Jane Ousley, resident head of the Scholarship Committee at The Pines at Whiting.
Students were chosen for the scholarships based on their longevity and commitment to their job at The Pines. All of the following students have worked hard at The Pines for at least one year, many of them longer:
- Nathan Berry of Lacey, attending Ocean County College
- Emily Burdynski and Cheyenne Thomas of Manchester, attending Ocean County College.
- Kyle Burdynski of Manchester, attending OCC and Kean University
- Abigail Coleman of Manchester, attending Caldwell University
- Zachary Doctor of Manchester, attending Rutgers University
- Megan Ginex, graduate of Monsignor Donovan High School, attending Georgian Court University
- Kyle Spano of Manchester, attending DeSales University
- Aslyn Holland of Toms River, attending Stockton University.
“Working with seniors at The Pines is such a rewarding experience. I am extremely grateful for their generosity. Our residents are compassionate and conscientious people and I have learned so much from them,” Cheyenne Thomas said. Cheyenne is four-year employee of The Pines.
The Pines at Whiting Scholarship Committee was established in 2004 by resident John Taylor. Since then, the Scholarship Committee has collected over $200,000 in donations from residents toward the staff.
“I love doing the work with the scholarship committee because I think that it is so important that these young people have the opportunity to go to college,” said Ousley. “They are our leaders of tomorrow so we should honor them today.”
