The Beaver Dam Scholarship Foundation was born out of the strong need to provide higher education to deserving students within our community.
The mission of the organization is to help the young people of the Beaver Dam community reach their maximum potential, thereby creating a future generation of enlightened thinkers and inspired achievers to lead our community.
To create an endowment that will become large enough for the earned income to sustain substantial annual scholarships for deserving students.
To establish arrangements for estate planning and charitable trusts on a continuing basis with knowledgeable attorneys and financial people. This allows donors to make a charitable contribution and at the same time receive current income tax deductions as well as continuing annual current income from their donation.
To organize an academic support group of community volunteers who continue to provide academic support to students through mentoring and tutoring.
From the first award year in 1992 through the current awards, the number of students awarded has increased based on available funds.
The Foundation feels an award should be large enough to provide a strong incentive to capable young students who might not otherwise be able to pursue higher education. The Foundation believes that no gift serves our youth as well as that of education.
Scholarships are awarded on basis of academic merit and financial need and are granted annually in the spring. The awards committee never receives any names of students to ensure impartial consideration for all applicants. Applications for scholarships are processed by an outside source to eliminate any local bias. Decisions are based on a formula of need and merit.
The Foundation was created in July of 1991 by eighteen local citizens concerned with the rising costs of education and was organized as a tax-exempt public charity. From its inception, the mission of the Foundation has been to provide talented local students with funds to attend either a 4-year college or a technical college of their choice. An awards formula was established based on 50% need and 50% merit, and the student applications are graded and scored by out-of-town judges to avoid local bias in determining who receives these awards.
The Foundation is a permanently endowed volunteer organization with total annual expenses less than 3% of assets. The endowment funds are managed professionally, and the fund is expected to grow over time to a point where all local graduates who need assistance can be helped, because we believe that education is the gift of the current generation to the future.
The outpouring of generosity in donating to this fund is a tribute to the Beaver Dam community and has allowed the Foundation to give scholarships to 569 students to date since their first award ceremony in 1992. Each year the total of the awards has increased directly in line with the Foundation’s capacity.
Thanks to our community’s generosity, the Foundation is proud to announce in 2023 it awarded 29 scholarships totaling approximately $240,000 to our 32nd "class" of recipients, with technical college awards ranging from $2,500 to $3,500 and college awards ranging from $4,000 to $10,000.
