SANDPOINT — Over 1,000 applications were collected at the end of April to be reviewed by 70-plus scholarships for seniors in the Lake Pend Oreille School District.

“We did curbside pickup,” SHS counselor Jeralyn Mire said. “We met people out in front of the building, just in the foyer of our school. Some were mailed, but most people we actually went to their car and put it in a plastic bag and sealed it up for them.”

Groups participating give anywhere from $250 to $2,500 per student for each scholarship. These scholarships are offered to all high school students in the district including homeschoolers and provide help for numerous post secondary institutions such as four-year colleges, cosmetology programs, welding, diesel and more. Last year, SHS received over $150,000 in scholarship money for their students.

“There’s scholarships for just a variety of things,” Mire said. “Our bus drivers raise money and give kids scholarships, and there’s lots of veterans groups. Every scholarship has different parameters, but it’s just tons of money that’s given away in our community.”

Community Assistance League is one of the major scholarship contributors for students in Bonner County. Through Bizarre Bazaar, an upscale resale clothing store, 250 volunteers work to sell thrifted clothing and put 100 percent of the money into scholarships and grant money. CAL has been around for 40 years and has been dedicated to giving back to the education system ever since.

“Our goal is just to make more money to give back to the community,” CAL scholarship chairman Sally Lowry said. “Every single thing goes back to the community and the more the community supports us, the more money we have to support them.”

In the past, CAL has contributed over $40,000 in scholarship money annually and $100,000 for grants. SHS received $25,000 in scholarship money from CAL alone in 2019.

Despite the financial devastation of COVID-19, groups have continued to make giving to the community their utmost priority. Although CAL has been closed due to the essential business mandate, and they anticipate difficulty with sales because Canadian customers were big contributors, Lowry said they are still finding ways to help individuals in need.

“We are taking our grant money and we are helping big time those who are in special needs like food banks and the senior center,’’ Lowry said. “We are giving out money in advance to all of those people.”

Mire said other groups have been sharing the same sentiment. One art group was able to provide scholarship money to another group that had planned to give a scholarship but was financially struggling due to the effects of COVID-19.

“Their (the art group’s) events that they do to raise the money for scholarships got canceled obviously because of all of the stuff that’s going on so they weren’t able to offer their scholarship and they felt really bad about it,” Mire said. “But there is a person in our community who loves art and stepped up and said, “Well I am still going to make sure they are going to have funds and be able to honor the scholarship.”’

Mire said that interest scholarships have been steadily increasing in the last five years. Three new groups offered scholarships this year. In addition, the application is uniform for all scholarships with the exception of a cover letter which allows students to fill out applications more efficiently.

Most of the groups send money to colleges for tuition, room and board, or send checks to students directly to buy equipment for their programs. Mire said she would like to see the community’s continuing scholarships increase to support students beyond their first year of a program.

Currently Sandpoint’s go on rate for post secondary institutions is 64 percent, meaning 64 percent of Lake Pend Oreille School District’s institutions enter a post-secondary institution within one year of graduating. This is one of the highest percentages in Idaho and 10 points higher than the state average.

“We had 36 applications for continuing but we don’t have that many continuing scholarships and that’s an area that we would love to grow,” Mire said.

Sandpoint High School is the main collection spot for scholarship applications. Kendal Stratton, college and career mentor helped collect applications with Mire on April 22.

“Through these uncertain times, I was in awe of the seniors and their determination to turn these local scholarships in, regardless,” Stratton said. “As we had to be fluid with plans, the curbside pickup for local scholarships worked very well, in my opinion. The number of organizations in our community who are still supporting our students in these hard and stressful times is so heart-warming and I wouldn’t want to be a part of any other community.”

Scholarship Night usually takes place in May, but Mire said they will consider alternative solutions such as mailing the letters if the school system remains closed.

Aly De Angelus can be reached by email at adeangelus@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @AlyDailyBee.