Thanks to the generous contributions of scholarship donors and a grant from College Futures Foundation, 175 local students will receive scholarships for the 2017-2018 academic year totaling $229,500. That's more than double the amount of scholarship dollars distributed by Stanislaus Community Foundation in 2016.

This year's awards bring the total amount of scholarship dollars distributed by Stanislaus Community Foundation and its partners to nearly $780,000 since 2005. Stanislaus Community Foundation administers more than 30 scholarship funds on behalf of local families, companies and schools. While some scholarship recipients are chosen by external committees, Stanislaus Community Foundation has its own independent selection committee that chooses awards for the majority of the scholarship funds.

"I continue to be amazed by the level of accomplishment of these students who are so active in the community while maintaining high grade-point averages,” said Melanie Chiesa, chairperson of the Foundation Scholarship Committee. We are proud of each and every student who applied and we look forward to learning more about their future achievements."

This year’s recipients include 66 Stanislaus Futures scholars. Stanislaus Futures is a long-term and large-scale commitment to provide strategic, need-based scholarships and college counseling to Stanislaus County students as they work to achieve their college and professional goals. Stanislaus Community Foundation is working closely with the College Futures Foundation, a respected statewide leader that has studied the experience and achievements of more than 20,000 California scholarship recipients that demonstrated financial need. Stanislaus Community Foundation is also collaborating with Stanislaus County Office of Education (SCOE), six K-12 school districts, Modesto Junior College, Stanislaus State and The Modesto Bee to build scholarship funds, align systems and deepen family engagement to ensure students gain needed financial aid and college resources.