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The Gifting Tree Foundation presented $2,000 scholarships Nov. 13 to five military veterans who are students at USC Aiken. The foundation collaborated with the USCA Veteran and Military Student Success Center to design the application process and identify candidates, said Lyddie Hansen, chair of the Gifting Tree’s scholarship committee.
“I said, ‘You’re going to have a tough job because a lot of those veterans who are at USC Aiken are just incredible. Not only are they great patriots and service members, but they’re really good in school,” said Robert Murphy, the center’s director. Murphy said USCA’s student body includes 195 veterans and a total of 513 “military connected people,” including active service members, ROTC participants, military spouses and their family members.
The center processes GI Bill funds and Department of Defense tuition assistance, and provides a women’s support group, holistic counseling, a free post-traumatic stress clinic and help in making the transition from the military to higher education, Murphy said. To be considered for a Gifting Tree scholarship, applicants must have been full-time military personnel who were honorably discharged and who would benefit financially from the scholarship. Good grades and demonstrated leadership were also requirements.
“Whether it was in Kuwait, Africa, Korea, or stateside, each of them and their families have sacrificed for our country,” Hansen said of the recipients. “It’s a privilege to be able to give these scholarships.” “The ones that we selected are the five that we felt rose to the top,” she said.
Scholarship recipient Samantha Burns left the Army as a sergeant. She is a senior majoring in applied mathematics with a biology minor, and works in a plant genetics laboratory at USCA. “Since I left the Army in 2019 education has been my career.
I am so grateful that I’m being allowed this and that I hopefully can pursue graduate school in statistics after this,” Burns said. She said she want to work as a statistician in genetic research to advance sustainable agriculture. “I don’t think I could do this without the discipline that I learned in the military, she said.
Scholarship recipient Michael Foster left the Navy as a petty officer. He is a sophomore studying environmental earth systems and wants to work at the Savannah River Site. “It feels amazing,” he said.
“This opportunity makes me feel very fortunate because times are really difficult as a student on a fixed income with a disability. This $2,000 is a huge relief. It’s going to help a lot.
” “I was not expecting this opportunity at all,” Foster said. “There are a lot of people who really want to help us. Realizing that today was really awesome.
” Scholarship recipient Shania Underwood was an Army specialist. She is a junior majoring in nursing with a minor in psychology. “I think this organization is a beautiful thing and what they’re doing for everyone is just amazing and we appreciate everything.
It’s an awesome organization,” she said. Scholarship recipient Nathan Harp was an Army staff sergeant who served for nearly 12 years as a military police officer in the U.S.
, Germany, and Iraq. A senior majoring in accounting and finance, he said he intends to become a certified public accountant. “It’s a great honor being recognized and being one of the lucky few who were able to get the scholarship means a lot,” Harp said.
“People saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself. I do appreciate it.” Scholarship recipient Julian Nelson was an Army corporal.
A junior majoring in mechanical engineering, he said he wants to work with robotics, electronics and improved prosthetics to develop solutions for veterans with disabilities. “I’m just extremely grateful for the support. College is getting more expensive.
It’s nice to know that people are concerned and willing to support veteran students,” Nelson said. The keynote speaker for the foundation’s scholarship awards breakfast was S.C.
Sen. Tom Young, R-Aiken, incoming chairman of the S.C.
Senate Family and Veterans’ Services Committee. The freedoms U.S.
citizens enjoy “have survived for nearly 250 years in large part due to the service and sacrifice of our nation’s veterans who have answered the call to protect and defend our nation from enemies both at home and abroad, and for this reality we must be and should be very grateful.” Young said the best way to honor the service of veterans is to provide resources for the best veteran's services possible, including medical care, educational opportunities and other support. The Gifting Tree Foundation is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization designed to assist individuals in need and to support other local charities.
Founded by the late Don Cheeks and his wife Annie, the members of The Gifting Tree Foundation include small business owners, corporate executives and professionals from a variety of disciplines. Monica Key, chair of the foundation’s board of directors, said the foundation has awarded more than $350,000 to more than 27 charities since its formation in 2019..
