Scholarship Opportunities and Selection Process

In addition to challenging Shoreline youth to earn a President's Volunteer Service Award, the Gift of Giving will award from one to four educational scholarships annually to High School Seniors who have dedicated significant time and energy to conducting outstanding community service. Each of these recipients will receive up to but not to exceed $5,000 to honor their public service contributions and help defray the costs of post-secondary education.

Who Is Eligible?

Any High School Senior enrolled in the Shoreline School District who has received a Silver or Gold President's Volunteer Service Award is eligible to apply for a scholarship from the Foundation.

The Foundation's Board of Directors has developed and approved the following objective and nondiscriminatory criteria for the selection of scholarship recipients, which are designed to identify those students who have already distinguished themselves as innovative civic leaders. In selecting scholarship recipients, the Foundation will not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity or religion.

Recipients are selected on the basis of:

• The benefit that their public service has provided to the community;
• Their mentor/sponsor's assessment of their work;
• The creativity and innovation demonstrated in their community service;
• The commitment and compassion embodied in their service; and
• Their ability to describe their volunteer work to others and translate the lessons learned from it to other contexts.

Selection Process

All scholarship applicants must submit an application describing:

• The service need they identified in the community.
• What they learned from their sponsoring or mentor contacts.
• What was the impact of their service on a particular community and the lessons they learned from the experience.

Applicants will also be required to submit three letters of recommendation.

All applications will first be reviewed by the Foundation's Advisory Board comprised of adult community leaders who have been selected by the Foundation's Board of Directors. The Advisory Board will recommend a final slate of candidates to the Foundation's Board of Directors, who will ultimately approve the selection of individuals to receive scholarship awards.

Notification and Documentation

Foundation scholarship recipients shall be notified of their selection after the Board of Directors has approved the award recipients. The Foundation shall provide each recipient with an award letter notifying him or her of the scholarship and the terms and conditions of its use.

Scholarship recipients and their families will be invited to an award event to celebrate their accomplishments. The Foundation will also announce the awards and a description of the recipients’ public contributions on its website and in press releases to newspapers, school newspapers and other media outlets.

Persons Not Eligible to Receive Fellowship Awards

The following persons are not eligible to receive scholarship awards: past or present Foundation directors, or officers, members of the Advisory Board, any family members of such individuals, and any person who is considered a "disqualified person" with respect to the Foundation within the meaning of Internal Revenue Code Section 4946(a).

To Apply

If you meet the requirements, you can download the application form from the Forms and Applications page.

Don't Qualify?

An extensive list of other scholarships available for volunteering and community service can be found at MeritAid and FinAid.