College scholarships normally award academic excellence, but the KFC Colonel”™s Scholars scholarship program, which was launched two years ago, has a different emphasis: It seeks to award students who have a proven ability to do well under duress.
While students with a middling grade point average of 2.75 can qualify, they have to demonstrate “the qualities that Colonel (Harlan Sanders) exemplified, such as volunteerism and entrepreneurialism,” said Darlene Pfeiffer, owner of the KFC franchises in Kingston and Poughkeepsie. Economic need is also taken into consideration.
In 2007, the KFC Corp. awarded $20,000 scholarships to 50 high school seniors across the U.S. One of the winners was Lauren Beers, a senior from Millbrook who had to care for her ill mother while attending school full-time. Her mother is now on the road to recovery and this fall Lauren began attending Florida State University in Gainesville.
Lauren”™s award was tied to a special donation from Pfieffer, who as vice chair of the program has traveled frequently to KFC corporate headquarters in Louisville and also to Iowa City, where the applications are processed. Pfeiffer personally contributed $10,000, which was matched by the corporation for the full $20,000 amount.
The scholarship program is highly competitive: in 2007, the KFC Corp. received 250,000 applications for just 50 awards. Pfeiffer, who was among the team of KFC staff screening applications for the Midwest and South, said ,“It was very difficult to pick the winners. Everyone had compelling stories, and most applicants did get good grades.” The scholarship program is funded by all 50 franchisees, who contribute a dime for every meal sold to a young person.
Although about 10 of the winners are selected from the Northeast in the corporate program, Pfeiffer wanted to ensure at least one would be from the mid-Hudson Valley.
Hence, she was instrumental in expanding the program to include direct donations from franchisees. The KFC Corp. will match the donation of each franchisee who contributes $10,000, with the $20,000 scholarship targeted to a student residing in the franchisee”™s locality. The additional contributions have added $1 million to the pool of funds for the 2008 awards, which will be doubled from 50 winners to 100.
Applicants must be high school seniors attending public school, and they are required to fill out a lengthy form explaining the challenges they have had to overcome. The money is awarded in $5,000 increments annually over the course of the student”™s four-year tenure at college. In 2008, Pfeiffer is again donating $10,000 toward a scholarship for a student from the mid-Hudson Valley.
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