“Individual commitment to a group effort --that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” -Vince Lombardi
Lee Tischer and Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars chapter president Phyllis Likness received the Washington State Grange Volunteer Organization of the Year Award this July.
A fishing tournament and a car show: two seemingly unrelated events, right? Not in Wahkiakum, Washington.
Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars and its volunteers have creatively linked these two events together for the past five years, as the Derby for Dollars for Scholars. The event’s goal – raising scholarship money for Wahkiakum High School students – has been met with incredible success. The Derby brings in over $14,000 in scholarship funds each year to the chapter, and its popularity benefits local businesses that participate, as well.
So who are the brilliant masterminds behind this event? That would be Lee and Diane Tischer; passionate and dedicated residents and volunteers for Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars. Both Lee and Diane grew up in the community, went to school and graduated from high school in the community and were raised to give back to the community. Diane grew up on a local dairy farm; her parents, who owned a local grocery store, provided daily examples of helping others. As Diane says, “That’s just what you did; you helped out and got involved.” Lee grew up in a split home, but yet he was able to thrive and have success because he knew the community was behind him. He found that many of the community’s elders helped him in hard times; now, he and Diane are paying that kindness forward with the hope that current youth will do the same. As Diane says, “We want to do all we can to help the kids in the community.”
Lee and Diane began paying forward their belief in students when they began the “Fifth Quarter” tradition nearly 14 years ago. After a home football game, Lee and Diane open their home to all high school students for a cookout. The event not only ensures a safe place for youth to go after a game, but allows Lee and Diane to stay connected with students. And while opening their home was a step toward giving back to the community that gave so much to them, Lee and Diane wanted to do more. Wanting to help make sure students could pursue their education beyond high school, and influenced by a local school principal who had started a Dollars for Scholars chapter in another area of Washington, Lee, Diane and six others met in the Wahkiakum High school library and began their own chapter.
Nine years later, the chapter has become a staple scholarship organization in the community and its success has even brought with it a few awards, including its recognition as the Washington State Grange Volunteer Group of the Year. (See the June inTouch article for full details)
The success of Lee, Diane and the chapter has been due to the effort put forth by not only chapter members, but by everyone in the community. As Lee points out, “This community has really suffered in these tough economic times and unemployment is at an all time high, and yet businesses and people in the community are more generous than ever.” Lee also makes a conscious effort not to ask the same businesses over and over to donate to multiple fundraising events. Instead, he and other chapter members extend their reach to out-of-town and non-traditional local businesses like contractors. At the same time, businesses recognize the revenue they make thanks to chapter events like the Derby, which makes them more inclined to help out the chapter mission.
By the same token, individuals in the community have found easy ways to donate to the chapter. For example, Wahkiakum has a local birthday club. Instead of members giving presents to each other, they donate the money they would have spent to a scholarship fund. Frequently, for memorials and services, people send donations instead of flowers. This has become a popular way to honor someone and it also helps the chapter to give out more substantial scholarships to their students – as Diane points out, with college costs so high, any scholarship less than $500 hardly covers fees or books!
The scholarships raised by Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars have truly made the difference for many local students between going and not going to school. Currently, the chapter gives out as many as 18 scholarships per year ranging from $500 to $5,000. The chapter’s average scholarship is around $2,000; in 2008 one student even received a $10,000 scholarship. While the awards given out by the chapter are truly impressive, Lee and Diane and the rest of the chapter volunteers have an even bigger goal: they would like to build a million-dollar endowment, and they want to give EVERY SINGLE student in their community a substantial scholarship. They’re lofty goals, but Lee and Diane dream big and hope that their efforts, combined with the support of the community, will make them happen. Of course, they wouldn’t mind expediting the process – as Lee jokes, “We are still looking for that million dollar donor and of course I bought my lottery ticket.”
Regardless of how long it takes, Lee and Diane are dedicated to the mission of Dollars for Scholars because they know that the future of the community depends on educated youth. As Diane eloquently puts it: “Kids are the future of our community. If we don’t help and educate them, we can’t improve the community, and it will fail.”
Lee Tischer and Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars chapter president Phyllis Likness received the Washington State Grange Volunteer Organization of the Year Award this July.
A fishing tournament and a car show: two seemingly unrelated events, right? Not in Wahkiakum, Washington.
Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars and its volunteers have creatively linked these two events together for the past five years, as the Derby for Dollars for Scholars. The event’s goal – raising scholarship money for Wahkiakum High School students – has been met with incredible success. The Derby brings in over $14,000 in scholarship funds each year to the chapter, and its popularity benefits local businesses that participate, as well.
So who are the brilliant masterminds behind this event? That would be Lee and Diane Tischer; passionate and dedicated residents and volunteers for Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars. Both Lee and Diane grew up in the community, went to school and graduated from high school in the community and were raised to give back to the community. Diane grew up on a local dairy farm; her parents, who owned a local grocery store, provided daily examples of helping others. As Diane says, “That’s just what you did; you helped out and got involved.” Lee grew up in a split home, but yet he was able to thrive and have success because he knew the community was behind him. He found that many of the community’s elders helped him in hard times; now, he and Diane are paying that kindness forward with the hope that current youth will do the same. As Diane says, “We want to do all we can to help the kids in the community.”
Lee and Diane began paying forward their belief in students when they began the “Fifth Quarter” tradition nearly 14 years ago. After a home football game, Lee and Diane open their home to all high school students for a cookout. The event not only ensures a safe place for youth to go after a game, but allows Lee and Diane to stay connected with students. And while opening their home was a step toward giving back to the community that gave so much to them, Lee and Diane wanted to do more. Wanting to help make sure students could pursue their education beyond high school, and influenced by a local school principal who had started a Dollars for Scholars chapter in another area of Washington, Lee, Diane and six others met in the Wahkiakum High school library and began their own chapter.
Nine years later, the chapter has become a staple scholarship organization in the community and its success has even brought with it a few awards, including its recognition as the Washington State Grange Volunteer Group of the Year. (See the June inTouch article for full details)
The success of Lee, Diane and the chapter has been due to the effort put forth by not only chapter members, but by everyone in the community. As Lee points out, “This community has really suffered in these tough economic times and unemployment is at an all time high, and yet businesses and people in the community are more generous than ever.” Lee also makes a conscious effort not to ask the same businesses over and over to donate to multiple fundraising events. Instead, he and other chapter members extend their reach to out-of-town and non-traditional local businesses like contractors. At the same time, businesses recognize the revenue they make thanks to chapter events like the Derby, which makes them more inclined to help out the chapter mission.
By the same token, individuals in the community have found easy ways to donate to the chapter. For example, Wahkiakum has a local birthday club. Instead of members giving presents to each other, they donate the money they would have spent to a scholarship fund. Frequently, for memorials and services, people send donations instead of flowers. This has become a popular way to honor someone and it also helps the chapter to give out more substantial scholarships to their students – as Diane points out, with college costs so high, any scholarship less than $500 hardly covers fees or books!
The scholarships raised by Wahkiakum Dollars for Scholars have truly made the difference for many local students between going and not going to school. Currently, the chapter gives out as many as 18 scholarships per year ranging from $500 to $5,000. The chapter’s average scholarship is around $2,000; in 2008 one student even received a $10,000 scholarship. While the awards given out by the chapter are truly impressive, Lee and Diane and the rest of the chapter volunteers have an even bigger goal: they would like to build a million-dollar endowment, and they want to give EVERY SINGLE student in their community a substantial scholarship. They’re lofty goals, but Lee and Diane dream big and hope that their efforts, combined with the support of the community, will make them happen. Of course, they wouldn’t mind expediting the process – as Lee jokes, “We are still looking for that million dollar donor and of course I bought my lottery ticket.”
Regardless of how long it takes, Lee and Diane are dedicated to the mission of Dollars for Scholars because they know that the future of the community depends on educated youth. As Diane eloquently puts it: “Kids are the future of our community. If we don’t help and educate them, we can’t improve the community, and it will fail.”
The tireless researchers over at onlineeducation.net have put together a terrific guide to finding scholarships via Twitter -- from searching and hashtags to scholarship-specific Twitter accounts, their list of 50 Tips and Tools To Find Scholarships On Twitter covers a lot of excellent ground. Great to check out as the school year gets closer!
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