Marlboro Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jessie Evans, center, presented Jenna Leslie, right, of Marlboro Academy and Madison Woodle, left, of Marlboro County High School with the 2023 Marlboro Chamber of Commerce Scholarship on Tuesday.
The Marlboro Chamber of Commerce continued with its goal of investing in the future of the community by providing scholarships.
On Tuesday, Jenna Leslie of Marlboro Academy and Madison Woodle of Marlboro County High School were named the recipients of the 2023 Marlboro Chamber of Commerce Scholarship.
Jessie Evans, executive director of the Marlboro Chamber of Commerce, said the process of choosing the winners was a challenging one, especially with many qualified candidates.
Evans felt the scholarship is an investment into the community they want. The scholarship is community service based and not academic-based.
“We do want to see that you have put time and effort into your community and into giving back,” Evans said. “It does make a difference if your plan is to come back here and to help this community grow. It’s not a requirement, but it is a nice little plus for us to know that we’re investing in the growth of this community in the future.
This year, there were 11 applicants with six from MCHS and five from Marlboro Academy.
Evans said this is an increase from five applicants in 2022.
A goal for the chamber is to raise enough money to eventually offer a third scholarship potentially to a college student.
“We definitely wanted to touch both high schools in our community, but we do have a college here so we hope to reach out there,” Evans said.
Each recipient received $1,300 in scholarships.
Evans said the Pilot Club of Bennettsville donated $600 to the scholarship fund.
“They wanted to partner with us rather than doing their own scholarship,” she said. “It went from $1,000 to $1,300 each, which is pretty significant from our small little community.”
Woodle, a senior at MCHS, plans to attend Francis Marion University in the fall and major in English Liberal arts.
Her goal is to become an English professor.
She is the daughter of James and Melody Woodle.
“I’m extremely grateful because I know for me, Bennettsville has given so much to me and it helped me grow as a person,” Woodle said. “And it feels so good to be able to have earned the scholarship so that maybe one day I could give back to the community that has given so much to me.”
Leslie, a senior at Marlboro Academy, plans to attend the University of South Carolina in the fall and major in accounting.
Her goal is to become a chief financial officer or a public accountant.
She is the daughter of Allen and Rebekah Leslie.
“I am very thankful and blessed that my community could help give back and help support the future of the community,” Leslie said.
Scholarship partners include The Dairy Dream, The Humidor Cigar, Wine and Jazz Lounge, JT Salvage and Car Crushing, Midgley Insurance Agency, The Pilot Club of Bennettsville, Southern Packaging Corporation, and Sully Blair State Farm.
Nomad Cafe and Coffee Co. catered the event held at the Marlboro Chamber of Commerce.
Evans encouraged students to apply for the scholarship in 2024, our next scholarship year. Information and applications are posted on the Chamber’s website (marlborochamber.org) and Facebook (Marlboro Chamber of Commerce) in January along with being given to guidance counselors.
“This way you have from January to April to work on your application and get it in,” Evans said.