KRISTINA RIPP screamed when she opened her letter informing her of a scholarship to Catholic high school.
“I literally fell to the ground, crying,” she remembers. An honor student with a perfect attendance record, the 15-year-old 10th-grader is now in her second year at Paramas Catholic High School in New Jersey, once out of her reach because her family could not afford the tuition.
Columbus Day Parade 2009 Official Line of March
She was able to achieve her dream through the Adopt-A-Scholar program, part of the Columbus Foundation Scholarship Fund that allows an individual or a couple to pay the tuition for all four years of high school for a student.
The students go through a rigorous set of tests and interviews focusing on aptitude, financial needs, understanding of Italian heritage and community service.
Dr. JoAnne Cammarata Sylva and her husband are Kristina’s sponsors. Dr. Sylva has worked as a member of the CCF High School Scholarship Committee and the Ladies’ Auxiliary Board raising money for the general scholarship fund.
“I would not be who I am today if it weren’t for scholarships,” said Dr. Sylva, a college instructor.
Kristina now also spends time doing volunteer work in her community. “Dr. Sylva has shown me how generous she could be. It makes me want to give back,” she said.
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The Columbus Citizen’s Foundation has been at the forefront of the preservation of the Italian heritage and culture in America.
The CCF also provides scholarships to students from grammar school through graduate studies.
“It’s an investment in the future of incredible students who have the desire to fulfill their potential,” says Frank Furaso, Chairman of the Philanthropic Committee. “There is no better way to elevate our ethnicity and be true to the values given to us by our parents and grandparents than to educate the young.”
In the past 10 years, the CCF has awarded over $18 million in scholarship funds to students “who have the potential but not the means to meet the tuition expenses.”
For more information log on to columbuscitizensfd. org