Updated Aug 04, 2021; Posted Aug 04, 2021

By John Benson, special to cleveland.com

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio recently received a large financial donation that will maintain a college scholarship program, which over the past two decades has helped dozens of its alumni achieve higher learning.

The dissolution of the Fred E. Scholl Charitable Foundation, which was created in 1997, will provide $2 million in scholarship funds for Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio members through a fund endowed by the Cleveland Foundation and managed by College Now.

“We’re thrilled to announce that even though the foundation itself will be dissolved, the positive impacts on the club and club members will continue,” foundation President Bernie Karr, who is a longtime board member at Boys & Girls Clubs of Cleveland, said in a press release.

In addition, the nonprofit will receive annual operating funds as a result of a $1.7 million, one-time contribution to the Bill and Viia Beechler Endowment Fund.

“We’re of course were happy to receive the endowment money so we can continue the scholarship program in perpetuity,” Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio President and CEO Jeff Scott said. “This means we can continue to give our kids awesome pathways past just the graduation of high school.

“I think all too often in youth development work, we all sort of high-five high school graduation. So being able to select a handful of kids every year and say: ‘Guess what. Not only are you going to the post-secondary, but you’re not paying for it.’ That’s a life-changing moment.”

The Scholl Foundation has funded up to four scholarships per year for qualified Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio applicants, who must maintain a 2.5 GPA in college to get a renewal. The scholarships are for four years, starting at $5,000 and escalating to $8,000 during the final year.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio alumnus and scholarship recipient Jayla VanHorn recently completed her first year at The Ohio State University.

“It not only helped me financially through college, but gave me a lot of confidence academically as well,” VanHorn said in a press release. “The mentoring program that is a part of this scholarship has helped me throughout my first year at Ohio State.

“I’m glad to have been one of the recipients chosen to be awarded this scholarship. It has allowed me to discover new things about myself through the use of guidance by mentoring.”

There’s also Scholl scholarship recipient Janella Blanchard, now a career specialist instructor for Youth Opportunities Unlimited at John Marshall IT.

“Without the scholarship, I probably would not have gone to Bowling Green State University, because I knew taking out loans was not an option for me,” Blanchard said in a press release.

After graduating from BGSU in three years and without debt, Blanchard was able to put the additional scholarship funding toward her graduate studies at Cleveland State University.

“I’m proud to say that I have successfully obtained my bachelor’s and master’s degree with very little debt, all thanks to the Scholl scholarship,” Blanchard said.

Looking ahead, Scott said Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio would like to increase the number of awarded scholarships.

“We’ve got a lot more work to do,” Scott said. “We need to grow. In Northeast Ohio, it’s all about child poverty, so our mission is to increase the number of kids we’re serving.

“Right now, Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio serves about 10,000 kids. We think it needs to be double, triple, quadruple that number. So that’s our 10-year vision and plan to grow in every aspect we can serve youth.”