The Texas County Memorial Hospital Healthcare Foundation awarded $1,500 in scholarships to area students to assist with their educational costs for the 2008 fall school semester.
Thanks to an additional $500 donation from Jim and Mary Lou Gentry of Cabool, the foundation was able to increase their fall scholarships from two $500 individual scholarships to three $500 scholarships.
Tara Mordis of Beulah, Jordan Montgomery of Cabool and Colette Briggs of Summersville were the recipients chosen by the foundation board of directors from several applications received.
All three scholarship recipients are pursuing bachelor’s degrees in nursing. Mordis, a 2008 graduate of Licking High School, is enrolled in Maryville University in St. Louis. Montgomery, a 2008 graduate of Cabool High School, is enrolled at Missouri State University in Springfield.
Briggs is enrolled in Drury University where she is fulfilling the prerequisites needed for her bachelor’s degree. Briggs is a registered nurse and the infection control nurse manager at TCMH. She previously received a scholarship from the foundation in the spring of 2007.
“The TCMH Healthcare Foundation has identified educational scholarships as a way to promote healthcare education in Texas County,” said Jay Gentry, foundation director.
For the past three years, the healthcare foundation held a golf tournament with educational scholarships as the specific focus of the tournament. From the funds raised at this tournament, the foundation gives two $500 scholarships each spring and fall.
This fall’s foundation scholarship funding was augmented by an additional $500 gift from Jim and Mary Lou Gentry. The Gentrys are longtime Cabool residents and business owners as well as supporters of educational opportunities for area students. Their donation provided an additional opportunity for a Cabool area student to receive a scholarship from the foundation this fall.
“The foundation board of directors hopes that these scholarships will assist in attracting and retaining qualified residents to work in the local healthcare fields,” Jay Gentry said.
The foundation intends to award two $500 scholarships before the spring school semester in 2009. Applications for the scholarships will be accepted beginning Nov. 1, and the scholarships will be awarded in January 2009. The healthcare foundation scholarship application is available online at www.tcmh.org.
The foundation scholarships are designated toward students pursuing education in the field of healthcare and residing in the TCMH service area, which encompasses all of Texas County and parts of surrounding counties.