Some $285,000 in scholarships will be awarded to 41 Yakima Valley students at the Yakima Rotary Club meeting on June 7. The scholarships are from the Mary Monroe Davis Educational Trust that was created three years ago.

Mary Monroe Davis gifted $20 million for a scholarship program to be administered by the Yakima Rotary Trust with her vision being to help local students in need. Students will receive their scholarship at a special luncheon held in conjunction with the Yakima Rotary Club at the Convention Center.

To be eligible for the scholarships the applicants have to reside in Yakima County, be a United States citizen, and have been accepted for admission to a college where they will be enrolled full time in a study leading to a Bachelor’s or Associate of Arts degree. The applications were scored based on financial need, academic scores, leadership characteristics, and answers to essay questions.

This year the recipients were from a number of  schools around the Yakima Valley. The individual scholarships were in amounts from $3,000 to $7,500 each.

This is the third year of the program and with the renewing scholarships for 54 students from 2010 and 2011, plus the new scholarships, there will be 95 students receiving $682,500 in 2012 and 2013.

Mary Monroe Davis, known as Mollie Davis, was a local resident who very quietly bequeathed $20 million to be used for education purposes for Yakima County students. Of that, $17 million is to be used for college scholarships and over $3 million is to be used for vocational students.

Mrs. Davis passed away in 2008 and her Trust was announced in December of 2009.

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