Marlboro High Student Receives Scholarship for Organ Donation Advocacy

Marlboro, NJ - On Thursday night, Blake Rogolsky of Morganville received a $5,000 scholarship from the Betsy Niles Scholarship Fund as part of the NJ Sharing Network Foundation, a group that facilitates organ donation in New Jersey.

Rogolsky, who graduated from Marlboro High School this past spring and will attend the University of Michigan in the fall, watched her father suffer with genetic heart disease. After he received a heart transplant, she dedicated her life to organ donation. She became an NJ Sharing Network state ambassador at 13 years old. She has participated in the 5K as a team captain for three years and she started a “Donate Life Club” at Marlboro High School to educate her peers about organ donation. Rogolsky organized awareness events and activities, such as inviting a kidney transplant surgeon to talk at the school and coordinated a balloon release to honor organ donors and their families. The club expanded the curriculum of the driver’s education club at Marlboro High School to educate 16-17 year old students about organ donation.

She has also spoken about organ donation at BBYO, Colts Neck High School and Marlboro Jewish Center. She has organized blood drives and the blue & green celebration days at her school.

The NJ Sharing Network Foundation provides two scholarships, Missy's Miracle and the Betsy Niles Scholarship, both in the amount of $5,000 ($2,500 per semester) for the 2016-2017 academic year.

The Betsy Niles scholarship is offered in memory of Betsy Niles, a children’s book editor and lifelong resident of Montclair. Betsy died in 2011 and, in keeping with her tradition of lifelong giving, her organs were donated. Betsy was known for always giving the perfect gift for every occasion. Betsy’s last gift was the greatest gift of all, the gift of life.