ORWIGSBURG - Sixty Penn State Schuylkill students and 60 donors came together Tuesday night for the 2013 Scholarship Dinner at the Schuylkill Country Club.
The dinner was to recognize local donors for their dedication to education and to award the scholarships to the students.
During the dinner, university Chancellor Kelly M. Austin said that more than $600,000 is available to be awarded to new students for the fall 2013 semester based on their academic merit and the school is projecting more than $1 million will be awarded.
"These contributions are invaluable to so many students looking to achieve their dreams," Austin said.
Austin also said that of the more than 60 scholarships, there are three new scholarships this year. They are the Joseph H. Jones and Grace H. Jones Memorial Scholarship in memory of Gregory H. Jones, the Wylonis Scholarship of Penn State Schuylkill and the David and Vicky Norris Business Internship Scholarship.
This year, the student speaker for the dinner was Edward Breiner, a junior at Penn State Schuylkill who is pursuing a degree in business administration with a focus in marketing and management.
Breiner received the Dr. William R. Davidson Renaissance Scholarship.
He is a local student who was born in Hershey and raised in Shenandoah, then after spending three years in Tennessee, returned to Pennsylvania to attend Penn State Schuylkill, where he's an honors student with a grade point average of 4.0.
He's also a tutor and a research assistant at the campus, president of both the Business Society and the Blue and White society, secretary of the Biology and Environmental club and participates in other groups such as the community service club.
Breiner said things were not always so positive as they have been recently and in 2010 when he returned home to Schuylkill County, his family was poor, his mother was disabled and they were living on food stamps.
"Despite this, my hopes were high because I had been accepted to Penn State Schuylkill," he said. "I bought my supplies and went through orientation. I used savings to buy my first semester books. I took out full student loans, both subsidized and unsubsidized. I applied for aid everywhere that I could."
Even with all of this, he still came up short and the financial hardship began to affect his studies. Then a week before a crucial payment date, he was awarded a scholarship that he said gave him access to "the full Penn State experience" and didn't have to lose sleep over money matters.
"The scholarship embodied a turning point in life," Breiner said. "It gave me a chance to realize my potential. I was nine-tenths of the way to success and this scholarship opened the path to an unforgettable experience. My scholarship gave me a degree of determination that I didn't even know I had."
The keynote speaker for the evening was Theresa Carter, president of OMNOVA Solutions Foundation, based in Fairlawn, Ohio.
OMNOVA is a technology junior manufacturing company that provides products such as chemicals, upholstery fabrics and laminates.
Carter provides leadership and strategic direction in managing the operation of OMNOVA Solution's $23 million Foundation and is accountable for community relations through charitable giving in each of OMNOVA's company site locations worldwide. It also has a factory in Auburn that has about 150 employees.
She's a native of Demopolis, Ala., graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from the University of Alabama and currently resides in Copley, Ohio, with her husband, Garvin, and two daughters, Erin and Cesily.
"We have been giving support through an endowed scholarship to Penn State for 14 years now and we continue to support the students," Carter said before the dinner. "We have a great relationship with the university, share in their mission and believe in helping students. It takes a village and all of us working together."
Two other students that were attending the dinner were freshman Duant Ratcliff, Philadelphia, a business major, and freshman Megan Bensinger, McKeansburg, a nursing student.
Ratcliff said that his scholarship is helpful and every little bit helps.
Of the many donors in attendance were Burt and Louise Hetherington.
The couple said that they established a scholarship over 10 years ago and with four sons that are all Penn State graduates, they wanted to give back to help future generations.