KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Close to 10,000 youth are in the Michigan foster care system run by the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Nationally, fewer than 10% of former foster youth enroll in college after high school and fewer than 3% eventually earn a degree.
A fundraiser held Friday night in Kalamazoo raised almost $40,000 to help those students attend college.
The Fostering Futures Scholarship Trust Fund Fundraising Dinner was organized by the Michigan Education Trust and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Friday evening’s event at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Kalamazoo was attended by around 150 guests who raised approximately $39,375 for scholarships through Michigan Education Trust, the Michigan Department of Treasury’s 529 prepaid tuition program.
“Fostering Futures Scholarship fundraisers are about breaking down barriers for Michigan’s youth who have experienced foster care and demonstrating how compassion can turn into action, hope into reality and dreams into achievements,” State Treasurer Rachael Eubanks said. “I am inspired by our foster youth who overcome more challenges than most to obtain a certificate or degree. The money raised helps make the dream of college a reality for hundreds of Michiganders every year.”
The Fostering Futures Scholarship Trust Fund provides former Michigan foster care students who may not have adequate financial resources to attend college with a scholarship to a Michigan college or university. During the 2023-24 academic year, 441 students at 60 different institutions benefited from the scholarship.
Since 2012, fundraising efforts have totaled more than $1.4 million, with funds awarded as scholarships in the year they were raised.
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