Milagro Center Awards College Funds To 13 Former Students

For Milagro Center and its Rising Stars Scholarship Fund, 13 couldn't be a luckier number.

A year after launching the fundraising effort aimed at making sure each one of its high school seniors can pursue a post-high school education, the organization made awards to 13 alumni already attending college.

“In 2022, we launched a major fundraising effort to raise money for the new Rising Stars Scholarship Fund, which is an outgrowth of our commitment to the success of the children who attend our K-12th programs,” said Barbara Stark, President and CEO of Milagro Center. “Many of our youth are first generation students and really have no support system and no experience in entering colleges, universities and trade schools.”

Stark is proud to report that the recipients are attending a wide range of prestigious schools, such Penn State University, Middlebury College, University of Florida, Florida State University and Palm Beach State College.

“The students were overjoyed to receive the funds,” she said.

Milagro Center employs strict standards for disbursing the scholarship funds – post-graduates must provide proof of full-time enrollment and meet a certain grade point average. When they meet those thresholds, they each receive an equal amount of dollars.

The need for the scholarship fund became obvious when even the smallest request from a student almost went unfulfilled.

“One of our high school graduates wanted to apply to Palm Beach State, and when I inquired, they said they didn't have the $39 application fee,” she recalled. “Something as little as that can stand in the way of someone achieving their full potential.”

“And that was the driving force behind starting this Rising Star Scholarship fund so that these students could basically make that transition and then through our Alumni Association continue to have the moral support, the academic support and the social support to have them stay in college.”

Former student Kayla, who started at Milagro Center in kindergarten and now is a junior at Penn State University, is thankful for the support she received from the scholarship fund. 

“I'm studying Criminal Justice and I would like to enter law school upon graduation from Penn State. I am considering some of the country's top law schools,” Kayla said. “I'm very, very thankful for the Rising Star Scholarship Fund. Without it, I would be struggling in college, especially with my parents. They are helping me, but without it, we would be struggling really hard. Please give to the Milagro Scholarship Fund so other students like me can have a bright future.” 
 

None of the scholarships would be possible without the generous support from Milagro Center donors, Stark said.

“We need to sustain our Rising Stars Scholarship Fund to keep the dollars flowing to these worthy graduates,” said Stark. “We are always seeking individual donors to make gifts of any amount to fully fund this scholarship initiative and help to take our graduating seniors to the next level towards a self-supporting life.

“Every donation helps make the career dreams of our deserving students come to life,” she said. “It's important to note that we need generous donations on an ongoing basis to replenish the funds for future graduates.”

For more information, or to support Milagro Center's Rising Stars Scholarship Fund, visit milagrocenter.org/donate or call (561) 279-2970 x 101.
 

ABOUT MILAGRO CENTER:

Established in 1997, Milagro Center is a 501 (c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to ensure the social and academic success of underserved children and youth through Cultural Arts, Living Values, Academic Support, and Mentoring. Milagro Center provides afterschool and summer camp programs for children from Kindergarten through 12th -grade and operates three separate Centers – the S.T.A.R.S. Center for elementary age children, the Virginia and Harvey Kimmel Milagro Junior Teen Center for its middle school Junior Teen Leadership Program and the Milagro Teen Center for its high school Teen Leadership Program.  Milagro Center has consistently achieved a 100% graduation rate for its high school seniors and a 100% matriculation of its third-grade students to fourth grade.  For more information about Milagro Center, visit www.MilagroCenter.org or call 561-279-2970.

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