Student Assistance Foundation Awards $56,000 in Circle of Succe$$ Grants to Montana Students

Nonprofit Student Assistance Foundation http://www.safmt.org
(SAF) recently awarded $56,000 in Circle of Succe$$ Grants to students across Montana to help them cover costs associated with continuing their postsecondary education.

For the past four years, SAF employees have contributed money through voluntary payroll deductions to help Montana students attain higher education through the grant program. Funds raised from last summer’s SAF Golf Scramble also contributed to the total grant amount.

Between the two efforts, SAF collected enough money to distribute 56, $1,000 grants to students from communities throughout the state.

Grant recipient Jennifer Wooden Legs of Lame Deer said the grant funds will help her to continue her college education while managing the responsibility of being a single mother of four children.

She explains that her dream is to become a counselor at the Health Service Unit in Lame Deer and help her neighbors overcome some of the challenges she has faced in her lifetime.

“I think this award will help me by giving me a chance to prove to myself and to my children that I can make something of myself,” Wooden Legs said. “(This grant) makes it so I don’t have to worry if the bills are paid or if I have enough gas to make it to and from the college.”

Marti Johnson, grants manager for SAF, said the committee charged with evaluating the applications was greatly affected by the stories of all the grant applicants — a fact that made it particularly difficult to narrow the field and select who should benefit from the available funds.

“It’s our privilege to provide these grants to students to help them on their path to achieving their dreams of a college education,” she said. “This program gives SAF employees an opportunity to truly live our company’s mission and to really make a difference for the Montana students and families we serve.”

Student Assistance Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Montana corporation that provides students with knowledge and tools to finance and pursue their postsecondary education. Funds generated by SAF are returned to Montanans in the form of education grants and public benefit programs – to date more than $10 million. For more information, visit http://www.SmartAboutCollege.org or http://www.safmt.org.

Grant Recipients by County

Beaverhead — Ethan Lula

Big Horn — Suzanne Anderson

Broadwater — Brad Larson

Carbon — Josephine Greene

Carter — Amanda Kortum

Cascade — Breanna Bishop

Chouteau — Kelsee Clark

Custer — Katherine Hosbein

Dawson — Austin Schock, Sadie Wiseman, Tarena Utgaard

Deer Lodge — Rachel Grosvold

Fallon — Jessica Kirschten

Fergus — Miles Pennell

Flathead — Katie Reimer

Gallatin — Samantha Stephens, Teresa Keserich

Glacier — Michele Anderson-Laidlaw

Golden Valley — Miranda Ainslie

Granite — Kathleen Oberweiser

Hill — Seth Hinckley, Torrie Wolery

Jefferson — Sharon Houseworth

Judith Basin — Dabrianna Raprager

Lake — Shawna Baum

Lewis and Clark — Tammy DeFrance

Liberty — Karri Sundgren

Lincoln — Brittany Vinson, Jeremy Basler

Madison — Josie Sutter

McCone — Candy Huseby

Missoula — Amanda Richard, Jessica Peterson

Park — Sarah Palecek

Petroleum — Felicia Manuel

Phillips — Stacie Pankratz

Powder River — Kirstie Fruit

Powell — River Newman, Samantha Barber

Ravalli — Nikole Disney

Richland — Desiree Allen

Roosevelt — Whitney Grimsrud

Rosebud — Darleen Barreto, Jennifer Wooden Legs

Sanders — Lucas Necessary

Silver Bow — Cody Thom, Giordyn Warner

Stillwater — Tyler Golden

Teton — Traci Brumwell

Toole — Marie Christiaens

Treasure — Morgan Cunningham

Valley — Kevin Tweeten

Wheatland — Catherine Butts

Wibaux — Allyssa Harrell

Yellowstone — Kelly Heard, Kori Wilkerson