HCC Foundation Awards Record Number of Scholarships

HOLYOKE — The Holyoke Community College Foundation awarded a record 231 scholarships to incoming, current, and graduating HCC students for the 2019-20 academic year, totaling nearly $250,000.

The HCC community recognized the awardees along with the donors whose generosity makes those scholarships possible at a May 9 reception in the HCC Bartley Center for Athletics & Recreation.

Longmeadow resident and HCC alumni donor Gregory Schneider, co-founder and chairman of 3BL Media in Northampton, and scholarship recipient and graduating art major Catherine Carija were the keynote speakers.  

“I had been out of school for 34 years,” said Carija. “Lucky for me I found my way to HCC. I was greated so warmly by faculty and staff, and without the generosity of donors and HCC Foundation scholarships — all that belief in me — I wouldn’t be graduating now and going on to Mount Holyoke College.”

Over the years, the HCC Foundation, the nonprofit fundraising arm of the college, has provided nearly $2.8 million in student scholarships while also investing in classroom equipment and technology for select academic and student-support programs. 

“The community is so invested in the foundation and in the college. It’s quite impressive,” said Amanda Sbriscia, vice president of Institutional Advancement. “People are passionate about our mission and the work that we do, and that translates into life-changing financial support.”