Charity offers college scholarships

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- There may be a thrifty solution for girls who are

anticipating the monetary squeeze of starting college next year.

The Newport Beach chapter of the National Charity League is offering

high school senior girls in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District the

financial edge of $500 to $2,000 scholarships.

Providing scholarships to young women who are preparing to head off to

college or vocational schools is a tradition that the mother-daughter

charity organization continues, and continues to up the ante on.

This year the group will dole out $12,000, said chapter president

Diana Lorenz.

“We’ve been giving it more emphasis each year,” she said. “We feel

education is one of our primary focuses in the National Charity League,

and we really, truly feel that education is the future for these girls.

We hope it can help teach these girls leadership roles and to give back

to the community.”

The organization’s three primary focuses are education, philanthropy

and cultural enhancement, Lorenz said.

Members have to join as a mother-daughter team prepared to do

community service for several years.

They raise money primarily through the Ticktockers Thrift Shop on 19th

Street in Costa Mesa.

The store is entirely staffed by members and has no paid employees,

Lorenz said.

Mothers, also known as “patronesses” within the organization, must

work in the shop a minimum of 12 four-hour shifts a year. The girls,

called the “ticktockers,” must work at least two shifts per year.

Most of the $100,000 brought in by the chapter each year goes to local

organizations such as Human Options, the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen in

Costa Mesa, the Think Together Program at the Shalimar Learning Center

and the Heritage House.

But a chunk is held out each year to give to deserving high school

senior girls.

Scholarships are awarded in $2,000 and $1,000 increments, with an

occasional $500 for a girl enrolling in a community college.

To be eligible, an applicant must have a grade point average of 2.5 or

higher, establish a financial need, be a senior girl in a Newport-Mesa

public school and be enrolled as a full-time student at a college or

vocational school in the fall. They also must have attended a minimum of

two years of high school in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District.

“I think the thing we’re looking for most is energy and determination,

which is shown by improving grades and the recommendations of teachers

and counselors,” said Lorian Petry, who is heading up the scholarship

awards committee. “We’re looking for people who are going to try to go

out and make a difference. We want to make sure they have a head start on

where they want to go.”

Applications are available in the counseling office at each high

school, Petry said, and are due by April 6.