ANNOUNCING THE 2024 GARY BRONSON

MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

2024 FUNDRAISER: WIN A STAINED GLASS WINDOW CREATED/AND OR RESTORED BY GARY BRONSON

We are trying something new in 2024 as a way of noting the nine years since the scholarship program was renamed to honor Gary's contribution to the program over the years. In his fourth career, Gary taught himself how to repair, restore, and create new works in stained and leaded glass.

Contributors to the fund between now and July 15 will be entered into a drawing. Any contribution between $5 and $50 will earn one chance. Each additional $50 earns another chance. Winners will be notified on July 16 and will be invited to receive their window at the awards ceremony on July 19.

TO DONATE VIA PERSONAL CHECK:

Make the check out to “Cedar Park Neighbors” with “Scholarships Committee” in the memo line and mail it to Cedar Park Neighbors, 4740 Baltimore Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19143.

HOW TO APPLY FOR THE SCHOLARSHIP

The application period for the 2024-2025 Gary Bronson Memorial scholarship awards is open!

If you are a new applicant (have never received a CPN Gary Bronson Memorial scholarship), please complete this application form.

If you are a scholarship recipient applying to renew your award, please fill out this application form.

More info:

·        Please read all eligibility information and application directions carefully.

·        Applicants must live within the stated boundaries of the Cedar Park neighborhood.

·        Applicants must be enrolled in a regionally accredited post-secondary school for the fall term of 2024. This accreditation process includes schools offering trade and vocational education, community colleges, and 4-year colleges. Students enrolled in graduate programs are not eligible.

·        Applicants may be any age and may be in any year of study at an eligible school as long as they are enrolled for the fall term of 2024.

·        Applications must be received via email by June 24, 2024, 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Questions? Contact the scholarship application committee at scholarships@cedarparkneighbors.org

PREVIOUS SCHOLARSHIP WINNERS

2023 Award Ceremony:

The official award ceremony took place on July 21, 2023, at intermission time during the Friday Jazz Concert at Cedar Park. In all, nine scholars, including five returning scholars and four new ones, were granted scholarship money for the 2023-24 school year. Six of the nine were personally present at the ceremony.

HERE IS THE FULL LIST OF THE 2023-24 CPN SCHOLARS:

The following five scholars have received scholarship awards prior to the 2023-2024 academic year:

Keturah BahtT’om  -  Entering senior year at Temple University 

Bashira Bint Abu Yahya  -  Entering junior year at Drexel University

Ariel Hayes - Senior at Temple University 

Nathan Little - Entering junior year at Temple University

Nicole Wilkerson - Entering sophomore year at West Chester University

And here are this year's first-time awardees:

Amara Kelley - will enter Penn State University’s Altoona campus in Nursing

William McGinnis - attending Orleans Technical College earning a Trades Diploma in Building Maintenance

Maia Saks - entering the University of Pennsylvania with interest in Politics, Philosophy, and Economics.

Victoria Sindlinger - entering the University of Pennsylvania with interest in Environmental Sciences.

CPN congratulates this year's scholars and wishes them every success in the year ahead!

In Their Own Words: Video Testimony from the 2022 Scholars

During the fundraising interval in 2022, the following videos - each one made by one of the previous year’s scholarship awardees - were published both here and in the CPN Newsletter, a different student each week. If you listen to them, you will hear in their own words how your generosity in the past has had an impact on their outlook and their studies. One commonality between them all is how much living in this community has shaped their lives. That is a wonderful reflection on each one of you reading this webpage. Thank you all for helping a dream which is now 34 years old continue to flourish.

2022 Award Winners

On Friday July 22, 2022 during the closing jazz concert of the season, Cedar Park Neighbors held a public ceremony to award scholarship checks to five students from the area. They included one new recipient and four others who were previous Gary Bronson Memorial Scholarship winners:

New recipient:

Nicole Wilkerson  

Veteran awardees:

Ariel Hayes

Nia Wilkerson-Harris

Keturah BahtT'om

Vaughn Waldron

Scholarship Committee

Established in 1989, the Cedar Park Neighbors Scholarship Committee works to support young adults living in the Cedar Park neighborhood of West Philadelphia in their pursuit of higher education. The committee recognizes the achievements of our neighborhood students, encourages their educational goals, and provides them with mentorship and financial support to help them be successful in their post-secondary endeavors.

CPN renamed this program the Gary Bronson Memorial Scholarship in 2015 in honor of our visionary neighbor and friend who founded this scholarship.

The committee raises funds through contributions from our neighbors and an annual fundraiser held each spring. In 2021 we raised over$11,000 and funded six students with cash scholarships to help defray some of the costs of their post-secondary education.

Each year, after the awards ceremony in July, we celebrate the students' achievements at a reception for the awardees, their guests, and the committee. During the school year, the committee reaches out to the students via calls, emails, and care packages during finals. We also host a Winter Social over their winter breaks to reconnect in a relaxed setting. The committee encourages scholarship recipients to participate in neighborhood activities throughout the year and to reapply each year they are enrolled in post-secondary education.

Generally, we have a fundraiser in April and post scholarship applications/re-applications by mid-May with a deadline in mid-June. Awardees generally are notified by the end of the first week in July, and the awards ceremony is in mid-July at the intermission at the Friday night Jazz series, weather-permitting.

Any neighbors interested in joining the committee may email scholarships@cedarparkneighbors.org for more information.