Suffolk, VA, June 16, 2025 — Forty-four students from Suffolk and Western Tidewater are receiving life-changing scholarships this year from the Suffolk Foundation to attend college or trade school in the fall.
Scholarships range from $1,000 awards for community college, to eight-year awards of $10,000 per year for undergraduate and graduate studies. In total, over $150,000 was awarded this year to students from Suffolk, Smithfield, Franklin, Isle of Wight County, Southampton County, and Gates County in North Carolina.
The Suffolk Foundation manages 19 different scholarship programs, all established by different donors with different goals and criteria. While some scholarships focus on a particular field of study or career path (e.g., nursing, teaching, engineering), others look for financial need, academic achievement, community service, residency, or other factors.
Civic groups, churches, families, and businesses choose to partner with the Suffolk Foundation for fund investment and application services. The Suffolk Foundation ensures that scholarships are endowed to endure for generations to come, and that scholarships are not negated by colleges due to displacement.
The 2025 Suffolk Foundation scholarships and recipients were:
- Allfirst Scholarship ($1,000 each): Sophie Crawford and Kaylee Roggie
- AMADAS Industries Scholarship ($1,500): Bryce Pope
- Amy Phelps Art Scholarship ($2,000): Emma Ward
- Audrey Butler Nursing Scholarship ($1,500): Madison Bullock
- Chuckatuck Volunteer Fire Department Scholarship ($4,000 each per year, renewable): Greyson Davis and Teniya Jordan
- Col. Fred Cherry Scholarship ($2,750): Lavony Russell
- DiStasio Health Professions Scholarship ($2,000): Makaila Miller
- Howard Mast Scholarship ($7,500 each): Tyler Knight and Kenneth Oparaji
- James Blair Scholarship ($6,000): Rain Chen
- Just Because Scholarship ($1,000 each): Amada Credle and Braedon Dennis
- Lewis Morris and William Whitley Scholarship ($1,800): Emiah Keene
- Louis and Mary Haddad Foundation Scholarship ($2,500): Adeline Thomas
- Obici Healthcare Foundation Career Pathways Scholarship ($10,000 each per year, renewable): Lailani Hart, Kate Holland, Jacy Keith, Grace Legg, Kevin Nguyen, and Abigayle Rice
- Oliver Hobbs STEM Scholarship ($2,500): Katherine Conrod
- Ossie and Thomas Blair Scholarship ($5,000 each per year, renewable): Hannah Joyner and Lauren Vann
- Otha Rountree Nursing Scholarship ($1,700): Kara Russell
- Suffolk Business Women Scholarship ($2,500): Katherine Conrod
- William Hill Scholarship ($2,000): Cameron Worrell
In addition to the students listed above, another 17 students at Paul D. Camp Community College are receiving support through the Suffolk Foundation for their studies through the Cross Realty Scholarship and the Obici Career Pathways Scholarship programs.
The Suffolk Foundation is a 501c3 community foundation, whose mission is to benefit the people of Suffolk and Western Tidewater by facilitating and developing philanthropy, and by awarding grants and scholarships to meet a broad range of local community needs. Since the Suffolk Foundation was formed in 2006, it has awarded over $8.9 million in grants and $550,000 in scholarships. To learn more about scholarships, including how to start a scholarship of your own, visit: www.suffolkfoundation.org/scholarships.
