Eleven Cranston Students Win RI Foundation Scholarships

Eleven Cranston residents are among dozens of students statewide who will share nearly $500,000 in scholarships from the Rhode Island Foundation.

The local recipients include Katie Cherenzia, who received a Edward J. and Virginia M. Routhier Nursing Scholarship to attend Rhode Island College (RIC); Brianna Corcoran, who received a Major Jeremiah P. Murphy Scholarship to attend RIC; Sandra Lopez-Naz, who attends the Rhode Island School of Design, who received a Michael P. Metcalf Award; Anthony Mansolillo, who received a Edward J. and Virginia M. Routhier Nursing Scholarship to attend RIC; and Heather Marty, who received a Routhier scholarship to attend the University of Rhode Island (URI).

Other Cranston recipients include Kegan Moody, who received a Murphy scholarship to attend Rivier University; Pablo Pena, who received a Frances L. Macartney Porter Scholarship to attend the Community College of Rhode Island; Karen Pizarro, who received a Routhier scholarship to attend URI; Cuong Sy, who received the Antonio Cirino Memorial Scholarship to attend the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth; Narine Taraksian, who received a Routhier scholarship to attend URI; and Erin Torres received the Alan Edgar Wurdeman Scholarship to attend Catholic University,

Dozens of individual and organizational donors established scholarship funds at the Foundation to help students defray educational expenses such as tuition, fees and books.

“These scholarships honor not just the recipients, but the donors who make their dream of a better future come true,” said Neil Steinberg, the Foundation’s president and CEO. “The benefits of their generosity will pay dividends for decades as these young people enter the workforce and the civic life of their communities.”

In addition to general scholarship assistance, some funds target specific geographic areas or provide assistance based on gender, economic status or special circumstance.

The Melvin and Patty Alperin First Generation Scholarship is earmarked for high school seniors who are accepted or enrolled in an accredited two- or four-year college whose parents did not graduate from college.

The Rhode Island Commission on Women/Freda Goldman Education Award is for women pursuing education or job training beyond high school who need assistance with transportation, child care, educational materials or other support services.

The Foundation also offers a number of awards targeting students studying everything from social work or the arts to textile technology or filmmaking.

The Albert and Florence Newton, Edward and Virginia Routhier and Willard and Marjorie Scheibe scholarship funds target students studying nursing.

A complete list of scholarships, application deadlines and eligibility requirements for the 2016-17 school year is posted on the Foundation’s website at www.rifoundation.org.

The Rhode Island Foundation is the largest and most comprehensive funder of nonprofit organizations in Rhode Island. In 2014, the Foundation awarded more than $34.8 million in grants to organizations addressing the state’s most pressing issues and needs of diverse communities. Through leadership, fundraising and grantmaking activities, often in partnership with individuals and organizations, the Foundation is helping Rhode Island reach its true potential. For more information, visit www.ri.foundation.org.