POUGHKEEPSIE – The Poughkeepsie Grandview welcomed this year’s Scholarship Gala event last Saturday. Held annually, this event is organized through the cooperation of the Beyond the Dream Foundation, Alumni Chapter of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and the Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union.
Tim Hopkins is the President and Board Chairman of the Beyond the Dream Foundation. Beyond the Dream Foundation has granted aspiring college students scholarship funds in the local area. “It’s not a full scholarship,” said Hopkins. “It helps with some tuition and things of that sort. We have applications that students fill out. They give it back to us, we have criteria to where we award multiple students based on their credentials.” The Beyond the Dream credentials used by the Beyond the Dream Foundation to grant scholarship funds are the students’ GPA, as well as their activities within the community.
Students who plan to use the scholarship money to attend college typically tell the foundation which schools have accepted them ahead of time. “Usually they tell us which schools they’ve been accepted to before graduation and upon graduation,” said Hopkins. “We look forward to supplying them with some funds to help with their college tuition.” The selection process is typically determined by Hopkins and others on the foundation’s committee.
Hopkins stated that a bulk of the funding comes from donations and events such as the gala party. Local businesses are an additional source of funding for the foundation, as well as fundraisers. “We have businesses such as the Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union which provide us with $3,000 to $5,000 a year,” said Hopkins. “Other times we have fundraisers that also apply to the scholarships we provide. All funds received go straight to scholarships or for something in the community.”
