Service Check: Checking Our Homework on Scholarships

How Your Generosity Opens Doors and Bridges Generations on the Peninsula

​In our last issue, we offered a high-level view of the Peninsula Community Foundation’s scholarship funds—the total dollars invested, the number of grants awarded, and the sheer volume of educational support provided with the twenty-three scholarship funds and educator grants housed at the Foundation.

In this issue, we are doing something different. We are checking our homework. 
When a donor establishes a scholarship fund, they are making a promise to the future. They are hoping that the financial relief will clear a path for a young person to discover their potential, excel without the crushing weight of student debt, and ultimately go out to make a meaningful difference in the world.

So we followed up with a few of our scholars to ask a simple question: Are the scholarships doing what we hoped?

The answer is a resounding, inspiring yes. Recipients are clear that they don’t just receive funding, they understand they become a permanent part of the donors’ stories - and of Peninsula's legacy of “paying it forward.” Look at what these investments have built:

​The Full-Circle Corporate Leader: Raegan Johnson
When Raegan Johnson received scholarships from both the Kellam, Weaver-Fagan & Hastee Educational Scholarship and the Peninsula Scholarships in 2020, it wasn't her first introduction to the power of our local nonprofit community. Raegan practically grew up in the system, participating in the Healthy Families Partnership since she was just two years old, and later engaging with Alternatives Inc. as a teenager.
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The scholarships unlocked a brilliant academic and professional trajectory. Raegan graduated from Old Dominion ​

University with honors and went on to earn her MBA from Regent University School of Business and Leadership . Breaking boundaries early, she became the very first paid intern at Sentara Healthcare. Today, at just 25 years old, she is already driving impact from their corporate office as a finance consultant.
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Her mother, Charlene Johnson, is a Greater Peninsula Impact 100 member and serves on the board of Healthy Families Partnership. Charlene shared with us that her family is incredibly grateful for how these opportunities intertwined to set Raegan up for success right here at home.​

​From the Peninsula to the Global Stage: Madison Wilhelm
For Madison Wilhelm, financial assistance came from three PCF scholarships (Langley’s Jean M. Yokum, Kellam, Weaver-Fagan & Hastee Educational and Peninsula Scholarships) valued at $17,000.  These scholarships meant the gift of time! Because she didn't have to spend her college years worrying about how to pay for tuition, she was free to pursue high-level academic endeavors at Liberty University that most undergraduates only dream of.
Last fall, Madison joined a select multidisciplinary research group for a task 

​assigned by the NATO Centre of Excellence, traveling to Romania to present cross-cultural engagement research in person. She wrote an honors thesis on integrating Afghan refugees into the U.S. using language-teaching strategies, which was promptly published in an online academic journal.
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Madison recently graduated completely debt-free. Her next stop? She just received a prestigious Fulbright Grant (the most widely recognized and prestigious international exchange program) to serve as an English Teaching Assistant in Senegal. 

​"The financial assistance made all of this possible," Madison told us. "Now I am well set up to pursue opportunities in Senegal and beyond!"

Planting Seeds for the Future of Medicine: Cannon Cramer
Cannon Cramer used the Ferguson Scholarship to attend the University of Kansas, successfully earning his Bachelor of Arts in Biochemistry. He is now advancing to the KU School of Medicine. This milestone marks a major step in his lifelong dream of becoming a physician. 
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While managing a rigorous pre-med courseload, Cannon chose to give back by spending his senior year mentoring others as a STEM tutor for complex organic chemistry and advanced biochemistry​

​courses.

​"Mentoring these students significantly impacted my perspective on my own academics and reinforced the importance of encouragement in education," Cannon shared. As he prepares for medical school, he left our donors with a message: "Thank you again for planting a seed in my educational growth to do great things for the world around us."

Our homework is done, and the results are clear: your generosity is doing exactly what it was meant to do. Every scholarship recipient carries a piece of the Peninsula's legacy with them wherever they go, and your generosity is transforming local potential into global progress. Thank you for planting the seeds that allow our community’s brightest minds to grow, lead, and change the world. ​

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