WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — The Warner Robins Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. is awarding nine high school seniors a $1,000 scholarship, and they need your help in raising the funds.
For 31 years, the chapter has awarded more than $200,000 in scholarships to high school seniors in Bleckley, Houston and Pulaski counties.
Former Houston County High student Alexander Pegues, who won this scholarship in 2014, says students are lucky to have this opportunity.
"It's not just the the actual tuition or the kind of dollar amount that you're looking at, but also other little things like eating food and ensuring that you have your books, and so this really came in handy," said Pegues.
The chapter normally hosts a scholarship gala to raise money, but this year's event was canceled because of COVID-19. Shelley Holmes is co-chair of the Scholarship Gala Committee.
"So that led us to really think outside the box and determine what are the ways that we will still be able to support the students and be able to raise funds for the scholarships," said Holmes.
She says this year, the Deltas partnered with the JOY Foundation to host the gala virtually. They created a video of previous scholarship recipients.
"We put together a little presentation kind of just highlighting them, letting them tell us what they were doing now, and how that scholarship had impacted their life," said Holmes.
She admits it was disappointing to cancel this year's event. Through social media, word of mouth, and some mail-outs to former guests, she's hopeful they'll raise the funds.
"We could not have been successful all these years without the community," said Holmes.
Both Pegues and Holmes encourage students to take advantage of this opportunity.
"Just being able to just have a little bit of funds to alleviate that load is always a blessing," said Pegues.
"It shows that you're motivated, that you're inspired, that you have drive, and that you're committed to your dreams and your goals for the future," said Holmes.
Applications for seniors are open until April 3. If you want to donate to the scholarship fund, you can do so here.
They'll also be awarding a book scholarship to a Central Georgia Technical College student.
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