ChoiceOne Bank is pleased to announce 13 scholarships have been awarded in the Annual ChoiceOne Scholarship Program, designed to provide needs-based scholarships for graduating seniors in the communities the Bank serves in West and Southeast Michigan.
“ChoiceOne is celebrating our 125th Anniversary this year, and we have been offering this program for many years now,” said ChoiceOne Bank President Michael J. Burke, Jr. “ChoiceOne has always believed families are the heart of our communities, and our seniors are the next generation of leaders. This program provides an opportunity for them to realize the benefits of being raised and educated in a caring and supportive community. It’s enlightening for all of us to hear from our students about their community-service experiences.”
As the local community bank, ChoiceOne encourages and rewards graduating seniors who are motivated to advance their education after graduation with a Bachelor, Associate or Certificate. The ChoiceOne Scholarship awards a one-time scholarship of $1,000 to each recipient for their first year of college or toward a certificate program. ChoiceOne Bank has 36 locations serving communities in Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon, Newaygo, Lapeer, St. Clair, Macomb, and Oakland counties. These 13 winners were selected from 10 community high schools.
- Sabrina DeYoung – Sparta High School
- Victor Brownrigg – North Branch High School
- Caleb Gort – Grant High School
- Maxwell Hammond – Comstock Park High School
- Cerenity Helzer – Capac Sr High School
- Emily Hill – Lapeer High School
- Logan Johns – Lapeer High School
- Miniya Lothschutz – Coopersville High School
- Jessica Lukins – Byron Center High School
- James Oosterhouse – Holland Christian High School
- Brooklyn Pratt – Armada High School
- Sofia Sandoval – Fruitport High School
- Victoria Wolfe – Armada High School
The ChoiceOne Bank Scholarship applications were accepted from January through March. Students had to submit an application that included a 500 word or less essay about one of their community-service experiences – describing why they became involved, who they helped and how they benefited. Eligible candidates included high school seniors, GED recipients in the current calendar year who had not begun college classes, and home school students with documentation of high school equivalency and college eligibility. Students had to be graduating seniors planning to attend an accredited two-year or four-year college in Michigan for the fall of 2023.
“We believe it takes a community to raise a family and we take great interest in helping our youth,” said Burke. “As parents, we are hopeful our students will return to their roots to raise their families and teach their children the importance of community service.”