Established in 1994 when a generous donor gave $95,000 to the county, the Mineral County Community Foundation was established. The entire gift was placed in an endowment fund and through the professional management of the Montana Community Foundation along with the generosity of supporters, it has grown by more than 60%.

Every spring, the MCCF has awarded scholarships to high school seniors in all three school districts through an essay application process and the 2020-2021 year is no exception even with home-schooling, zoom and in-person classes, which alone has been challenging.

This year the deadline was moved up so that the students would not be rushed at the end of the school year with everything on a time crunch. This year, they have two graduating seniors and a junior from Mineral County high schools who will receive their college scholarships.

The junior scholarship was initiated two years ago to provide an incentive to a student with post-secondary aspirations for his or her education. Juniors are eligible to apply the following year as well. Selections are made based on community service, leadership qualities, scholastic achievement, extracurricular activities and overall character.

This year two scholarships of $500 each were awarded to Jakob Lohman of St. Regis High School, and to Sorren Reese, a junior at Superior High School. The scholarship of $1,500, awarded to a student with exemplary community volunteerism, was awarded to Bailey Milender.

The Foundation didn't receive an applications for post-secondary education scholarship from Alberton.

The following are the aspirations of these students, in their own words:

Bailey Milender, senior at Superior: “I plan to take my education to the next level at Montana State University in Bozeman. I really want to learn about cultures from different countries, and not just the countries that people normally hear about. I would like to learn about how people and their traditions correlate to where they live. Cultural Anthropology is the study of the diversity in humans and their cultures. Archaeology can also be a study within cultural anthropology. Cultural Geography is similar, but it has more to do with how those cultures and traditions relate to where people live in the world. I really do love the exploration of past and present cultures from all over the world, as well as the study of the world and its history, and all three of these career options would give me the ability to get out and discover the world.”

Jakob Lohman, senior at St. Regis: “I plan to attend a college in Montana and have applied to the University of Montana as well as a few other colleges during college application week. I have narrowed the subjects I am interested in pursuing down to business and psychology. Psychology is a subject that interests me and I believe it would be worthwhile to help people in the various fields that a psychology degree opens up while doing something I still enjoy. My interest in a business degree stems from my dream of someday opening my own business related to my hobbies and interests.”

Sorren Reese, junior at Superior: “In terms of college, it really depends on athletic opportunities as well as academic scholarships. Fortunately, I have narrowed my options down to three schools that are all in Montana. These include the University of Montana, Montana State University, and the University of Providence in Great Falls…I have always loved volleyball and track. The lessons and skills learned through these two sports have shaped who I am. I really hope to pursue both and continue learning from them. Academically, the medical field has strongly enticed me. I plan on attending medical school in order to become a pediatrician. I want to go into pediatrics for many reasons. First, I absolutely adore kids, and I want to do anything in my power to keep them safe. Also, I want to give families the reassurance of having a trustworthy doctor for their children. I believe that in helping people every day, the world can be a better place.”

The Foundation is on Facebook and their webpage is www.mtcf.org