Pearce Foundation Awards Annual Scholarship

Pearce Foundation president Andy Ruhland awarded the annual $5,000 Pearce Foundation scholarship during the IVC graduation ceremony to Molly Prewitt. The scholarship is presented to a graduating IVC senior who exemplifies volunteerism in the community.

	Pearce Foundation President Andy Ruhland and annual scholarship winner Molly Prewitt.

Molly started playing soccer at Pearce at a young age and continued taking tumbling classes. In junior high, she joined the volleyball league at Pearce and recently became a staff member, working as a Summer Camp counselor. 

 

While volunteering at Pearce, Molly helped with Spooktacular and assisted coaching a volleyball team. In addition to her Pearce volunteer efforts, she has helped sandbag during floods, lay mulch, and tutoring in the community. She went to YFC Camp as part of the Project Serve Team for a week where she cooked, cleaned, and helped run activities for campers. During high school, she participated in IVC Campus Life and a number of sports, band, and choir programs.

 

Molly will be attending Truman State in Missouri as a biology major. After that, she plans to continue her education with advanced study in either education or medicine.  

The Pearce Foundation, established in 1993, attracts financial resources through Foundation membership fees, planned giving, and donations for the purpose of providing long-term financial security to Pearce Community Center.

Pearce Foundation Awards Annual Scholarship

Pearce Foundation president Andy Ruhland awarded the annual $5,000 Pearce Foundation scholarship during the IVC graduation ceremony to Emily Terpstra. The scholarship is presented to a graduating IVC senior who exemplifies volunteerism in the community.

	Emily Terpstra

Emily began participating at Pearce as a child, playing basketball and volleyball and earning babysitting certification by attending a class. Through high school, she played a variety of sports and volunteered for the Youth For Christ Mission trip, Adopt a Block at Taft Homes, Special Olympics, and Rescue 33 doughnut days. 

Her future studies at Arizona State University will prepare her for a career helping people through Industrial Design with prosthetics. "Soon after I first made the decision to look into prosthetics, I was working out with a friend at Pearce," said Emily. "Another woman came in to work out, and I noticed she had lost a leg. I sat down and had a conversation with her about her story and what is hardest for her to deal with when it comes to her prosthetic. It was a great learning experience for me and sparked my interest in prosthetics even more!"

The Pearce Foundation, established in 1993, attracts financial resources through Foundation membership fees, planned giving, and donations for the purpose of providing long-term financial security to Pearce Community Center.  

Sarah Daum Wins Pearce Scholarship

Sarah Daum

Each May, the Pearce Foundation awards a $5,000 scholarship to one IVC graduating senior. This year's winner was Sarah Daum. 

The primary criteria for the scholarship is volunteerism followed by grade point average, teacher evaluation, involvement with Pearce either as a user, employee or volunteer, and financial need. "Pearce Foundation is happy to reward community volunteerism by virtue of this scholarship," said Dave Vojta, Pearce Foundation board president. "We received dozens of applications from very qualified students. It was inspiring to see so many students committed to volunteerism." Sarah logged more than 400 volunteer hours over the past two years at a variety of community organizations. 

Sarah's list of high school accomplishments is impressive: 4.17 GPA; AP and honors classes; student body president; member of Fellowship of Christian Athletes; participates in Ghost Buddies, a program that pairs mainstream students with those in life skills classes; soccer captain two years; National Honor Society; Sterling Merit Award winner; Illinois State Scholar; and many others. 

Sarah has worked at Pearce for two years. Her responsibilities have included nursery, Exergame room, and after school care attendant. Sarah will soon begin her second year as a counselor for summer camp.

After camp concludes August 13, Sarah will move to Rustin, LA, to study business administration at Louisiana Tech.

Last year's recipient of the Pearce Foundation Scholarship was Bria Kohlman who continues to serve as a summer camp counselor.