Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

A relatively new non-profit organization, The Reed Foundation, is planning to give away three scholarships to high school seniors in the Chambers County School District, Lanett City Schools and Springwood School. The biggest award, the Beulah Carlisle Memorial Scholarship, is $1,000. The two Reed Foundation book scholarships are $500 each. The scholarships are non-renewable, meaning students will only receive them for one school year.

“That is a vision of Mr. Cameron Reed,” said the Rev. John Frederick Jr., executive director of The Reed Foundation. “A part of launching this foundation, we [were] going to be about giving out scholarships to deserving students to help further their educations.”

To be eligible for a scholarship, a student must have a GPA of at least 3.0. Applicants’ GPAs will be verified by their school counselors. They must also write a 500-word essay explaining a time they stepped up as a leader, and they must have documented community service.

Frederick said that The Reed Foundation is still figuring out how much community service students should do in order to be eligible for scholarships. He said the organization is currently looking for about 20 to 30 hours and possibly as few as 15.

“We understand that we are in some difficult times, and everybody is not privileged to receive a full ride when it comes to going to a school,” Frederick said. “So the Reed Foundation, for the parents, we want to kind of help lighten their load, so they don’t have to be worrying about how their kids are going to get this book, get that book. So the Reed Foundation, we want to be a helping hand to the parents and to the students.”

The deadline to apply for the scholarships is March 13, 2022. Applications are available at high schools in Chambers County. Applicants must email their applications and essays to scholarship@thereedfoundation.net or turn them in to their high school counselors.

Frederick said the Reed Foundation has been doing well since it launched at the beginning of the year. It recently held an air fryer giveaway for three winners.

“There was nothing they had to pay for,” he said. “The only thing they had to do was visit our Facebook page, like the page, share that flyer about the air fryers, and the ones who had the most likes on their page, they won the air fryers.”

The Reed Foundation also recently launched its website at www.thereedfoundation1.com.

The organization was founded Cameron Reed, a graduate of Lanett High School who is now the equipment administrative assistant for the Chicago Bears. It aims to address many different community needs such as helping seniors get their medications, helping seniors with their yards, mentoring youth, picking up trash and doing workshops on how churches can play a role in the community, according to Frederick. The Reed Foundation officially launched at the beginning of January.

The Reed Foundation can be reached by calling (706) 590-9676.