Fourteen current college students and college-bound high school seniors will each receive a $1,000 scholarship at the 42nd annual Martin Luther King Scholarship Coalition Celebration on January 7.
The program is open to the public and will begin at 3:30 p.m. at Christ Presbyterian Church, 1930 W. Walnut Street. The scholarship recipients will include students from six area congregations from Incarnation Lutheran, Immanuel Lutheran, Matters of the Heart Fellowship, New St, James United Methodist, Hephatha Lutheran, and Ascension Fellowship Church.
Inspirational speaker for the celebration will be Bryanna Wade-Gardner, New St. James United Methodist Community Church, a 2017 graduate of University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, and previous recipient of four MLK Scholarships.
The MLK Scholarship Coalition was formed by three Milwaukee-area pastors in 1975, as a way to keep alive the prophetic legacy of Dr. King and to encourage young people to complete high school and to move on to post-high school education. The MLK Scholarship Coalition is an ecumenical collaborative currently consisting of 11 participating congregations. Scholarship recipients must be connected with a coalition member congregation, and must write an essay related to Dr. King’s message.
Top essay winners are, Elisha Branch, Hephatha Lutheran, and a junior at Mt. Mary University, and Whitney Riley, Hephatha Lutheran, and a 2018 graduate of Rufus King High School. The 2018 scholarship recipient who raised the most funds is Ella Hoerchner, Immanuel Lutheran, and a student at Milwaukee Area Technical College.
Most of the funds for the MLK Scholarships are raised through the MLK Scholarship All-A-Thon, that takes place every year on the Saturday of the Memorial Day weekend in May. Since 1975 the MLK Scholarship Coalition has presented 648 scholarships, totaling $468,600, almost all of the funds coming from individuals and congregations in the central city of Milwaukee.
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MLK Scholarship Coalition
