CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Albemarle Foundation says they are donating $1 million, as well as launching the Smith Opportunity Scholarship Fund (SOS), to The Carolina Youth Coalition (CYC) to support youth in underserved communities in getting a higher education.
The donation, along with SOS, will help CMS high school students, from under-resourced families to attend four-year universities or colleges, according to a news release.
“Corporate and personal philanthropy is changing lives,” says Kathryn Kissam, Co-Founder and Board Chair of CYC. “Through the generous support of the Albemarle Foundation and the Smith Family, we will be able to increase affordable access to college and ensure our youth have the academic, social, and financial support needed to persist through college and ultimately obtain social and economic equity in our communities and beyond.”
CYC officials say the Albemarle Foundation’s donation will help grow the nonprofit’s operations, and the Smith Opportunity Scholarship Fund will provide gap scholarships for college-bound youth.
Executive Director and Co-founder of CYC Aaron Randolph says the coalition supports high-achieving, under-resourced high schools students to get into, excel, and graduate college in order to reach their highest potential.
“We believe that higher education has the potential to create lasting, generational change for our Fellows and their families,” says Randolph. “Sparking this transformation requires long-term commitment to matching youth’s boundless potential with the empowering resources they need to design and fulfill a bright future.”
Endowed by Andrea and Sean Smith, The Smith Opportunity Scholarship Fund provides gap scholarships, that bridges the funding gap between the total cost of attendance and the recipients’ financial aid package after Federal Pell Grants, federal loans, and other scholarships, to CYC Fellows/students planning to attend a four-year university, according to a news release.
“We are honored to support the great work of Carolina Youth Coalition and these deserving and high- performing students through our scholarship fund,” says Andrea and Sean Smith. “By providing these young people with the opportunity of a four-year degree, they will not only graduate without a debt burden, but be able to pay it forward by giving back to the community and other Fellows in the CYC program.”
CYC officials say almost 90 percent of their college and high school fellows from the 2019-2020 class are Black or Latino, and they earned 216 total college acceptances, with nearly $15.5 million in scholarships, and with 91 percent of students being the first in their families to go to college.
In 2018 CYC was one of 17 nonprofits chosen by the Albemarle Foundation and Bank of America to receive a combined $20 million over five years to support economic mobility in Charlotte, according to a news release.
“The Albemarle Foundation has been involved with CYC since its inception, and this recent pledge of $1 million in funding ensures its continued success in the Charlotte community,” says Sandra Holub, Executive Director of the Albemarle Foundation. “There are many ways to engage with CYC, as volunteers, mentors, and donors. Albemarle and our employees fully embrace and thoroughly exemplify our core value of CARE. We encourage other corporations and organizations to do the same, to get involved and be a bright beacon of hope and change to our most valuable resource, the promising youth in our community.”
Click here to learn more about CYC.
