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The Costco Scholarship Fund helps bright
disadvantaged minority students such as
Kimberly Adams, left, who graduated
from the University of Washington.
THIS SEPTEMBER, classes began at universities as they have for ages. But for 49 students
who entered the University of Washington
(UW) and 100 who entered Seattle University
(SU), an unexpected new chapter in their
lives unfolded.
These students all had the grades to qualify for these schools, but, because of their
financial standing, most of them believed a
college education was out of their reach. The
Costco Scholarship Fund helped make their
academic dreams come true.
While Costco also supports scholarships
and academic programs at many other schools
across the country, since 2000 the Costco
Scholarship Fund has been helping disadvantaged and underrepresented minority students
to attend SU and UW. To date the fund has
raised more than $12 million and helped 900
COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF WASHING TON
students to attend these two universities.
Money for the fund comes from generous
donations from Costco suppliers and contributions from Costco employees and company
officers. In September, hundreds of these suppliers gathered at UW for the eighth annual
Costco Scholarship Fund Breakfast, the largest fund-raising event for the program.
Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee, sister of recording artist
Diana Ross, was the keynote speaker. Both
women have had distinguished careers, albeit
in very different fields. Dr. Ross-Lee was the
first African-American woman to be appointed
dean of a U.S. medical school, Ohio University.
The breakfast raised more than $2.5 million to
help disadvantaged minority students reach
their academic goals.
Scholarship recipients are selected by the
universities based on high school performance, extracurricular activities, community
service and personal hardships.
“I was one of the first students to receive
your scholarship, and I get tears in my eyes
thinking about the time I opened the [accep-tance] envelope that changed my life forever,”
says Kimberly Adams, who became a fund
recipient in 2001 and graduated from UW in
the spring of 2006.
Like many scholarship fund recipients,
Adams occupies a vital role in the workforce
as she completes a registered nurse residency
program at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
To learn more about, or contribute to,
the Costco Scholarship Fund, visit www.costco
scholarshipfund.org.—Will Fifield
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