17 HS graduates awarded scholarship by ‘Men and Women Unite for Youth and Families”

RIEGELWOOD, NC (WWAY) — As we get closer to the end of summer, thousands of students throughout North Carolina are preparing to head off to college for the first time this fall.

And a local non-profit organization is helping a group of students get a headstart.

‘Men and Women United for Youth and Families” held its 15th annual scholarship banquet on Saturday, July 22nd. at East Arcadia Elementary School .

17 high school graduates from Columbus and Bladen County were each awarded a $1000 scholarship to help with the costs of college.

D’ante Grovner is one such student and will be studying mechanical engineering at NC State this fall.

He said receiving this scholarship makes college possible, not just for him, but for anyone else who gets it.

So you know, receiving this scholarship is just really great because if I don’t have these opportunities available to me, I may not want to go to college,” Grovner said. “So I think it’s a blessing really to be able to have this community so tightly knit and so close that I could just, you know, say ‘Hey, I’m looking for opportunities, do you have any?'”

This is the largest number of students the organization has recognized and given scholarships to.