Scholarship donors and recipients come together for annual Star Night

Scholarship donors and recipients come together for annual Star Night

MOSES LAKE — The Big Bend Community College Foundation brought together scholarship donors and recipients last week for its annual Star Night event.

The Foundation hosts Star Night each year to celebrate both donor generosity and student excellence. The event also provides an opportunity for donors and their recipients to meet each other and make meaningful connections.

Each year, the Foundation awards upwards of $300,000 in scholarships to students. Funds came from various donors and supporters of the Foundation’s annual Cellarbration! for Education scholarship fundraiser.

Executive Director of BBCC Foundation LeAnne Parton thanked donors for helping the Foundation increase the overall number, and the amount, of scholarships they are able to award each year.

“When I started here almost 12 years ago, we were awarding $150,000 in scholarships. This year we’re going to go over $350,000,” she said. “It’s through the generosity of the donors in this room and those that have come before you that we are making significant impacts in the lives of our students. We are incredibly grateful.”

Big Bend student Jimena Hernandez shared how scholarships have helped ensure she stayed in school. Jimena is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Applied Science in Applied Management degree through Big Bend with hopes of entering the human resource field.

“Without these scholarships, I would have faced heavy financial stress,” she said. “The support has significantly lightened my load by helping with tuition, fees and textbooks.”

Jimena thanked donors for giving her, and other students, the gift of being able to focus solely on being a student— doing well in classes, and working towards their goals versus worrying about how they would pay for college each quarter.

“Your support is not only an investment in my education, but also my dreams and aspirations,” she said.

Keynote speaker and donor Anna Parton Fenner told attendees that students’ dreams and aspirations are what made her want to start a scholarship in the first place.

“Scholarships represent more than just financial assistance to us, they are our unwavering belief in you, the students, and your potential,” she said. “We know that life is really hard and academic demands are a lot, but there’s no other place that cares more about your success than here at Big Bend.”