Submitted by Gretchen Wing

The Lopez Island Community Scholarship Foundation is pleased to announce that applications for 2020 graduates are now available on the LICSF website,

LICSF was created to provide scholarship opportunities for students who are residents of Lopez, Decatur, and Center Islands, to help them attain their post-secondary educational and career goals. It aims to sponsor and support individual students in achieving success through their educational experience. By staying in touch through an advocate matched with each student, LICSF not only provides a financial resource to help students meet their goals, but also offers the encouragement and mentorship often missing when young people head off to college.

The advocacy portion sets LICSF apart from most scholarships. 2018 graduate Anah-Kate Drahn, currently pursuing a degree in nursing at Emory College in Atlanta, said last year that her advocate, Richard Carter, is “someone I feel comfortable being honest with, someone who has my back.” For his part, Carter, one of Drahn’s secondary teachers, called LICSF’s vision “unprecedented in my experience.” Carter added: “Hats off to the board. Lopez is very lucky to have these experienced, motivated people working together to support our students long-term.”

In 2019, LICSF awarded two $5,000 scholarships, to Katherine Combs and Galen Westervelt. This year, the hope is to increase the number of scholarships while broadening the scope of awards to include programs shorter than those of traditional four- year colleges.

LICSF encourages the families of all students graduating from Lopez, Decatur, and Center Island in 2020 to visit the website and see how LICSF might help your special student toward their life’s next chapter.