The Lighthouse hosted an ice cream social for our 2010 Scholarship winners on Saturday, July 24th.  This year, the Scholarship Program gave $59,000 in awards to 28 individuals from across the country.  Award recipients and their families, as well as scholarship donors enjoyed ice cream and cookies provided courtesy of Dunkin’ Donuts/Baskin Robbins.

Enrolled in varying levels of higher education, this year’s scholarship winners have chosen fields such as psychology, law, biology, divinity, developmental studies and computer science among other areas of study.

With the average cost of applicants’ annual expenses typically well over $25,000, the winners will use their awards to purchase tuition, school supplies, assistive technology and other school related expenses.

"I want to express my deepest appreciation to our wonderful donors for making this all possible," said Dr. Janet Szlyk, Lighthouse president/executive director.  "We know your investment is very sound and that our recipients will go on and accomplish great things."

She added that education is critical to the mission of the Lighthouse as evidenced by our youth summer activities program, internship and residency opportunities, employment training programs, Illinois Instructional Materials Center and our school for children with multiple disabilities.

Noting the importance of mentoring to the overall success of the scholarship program, Dr. Szlyk strongly urged recipients to keep in touch with their donors and share news of their progress.

"We want to be here for you and offer support during good times as well as bad," she said.

In addition to saluting the recipients, Dr. Joel Kaplan, chair of the Lighthouse’s scholarship committee, also thanked all the donors for their generosity.  He pointed out that their contributions have enabled the program to grow by "leaps and bounds."

"To the best of our knowledge, no other organization offers so many scholarship awards on such a broad, national scope," Dr. Kaplan said.  "Ours could very well be the largest scholarship program for students who are blind or visually impaired in the country!"

As an added bonus, all of this year’s scholarship winners have been invited to a special dinner hosted by Chef Charlie Trotter at his namesake restaurant on September 29th.

Pictured: Lighthouse Board Chair William Conaghan and scholarship recipient Adnana Saric.