After months of deliberation the ‘Open The Door’ scholarship has selected two local high school students, Logan McCallum and Marissa Mongelluzzo, who will each receive $40,000 spread out over four years to further their higher education.
The scholarship, which is a collaboration between The White Family Foundation and the Thorold Sports Runway of Recognition, was launched this year to bring equal educational opportunities for exemplary student-athletes from Thorold.
Councillor Tim Whalen, who is the Chair of the Thorold Sports Runway of Recognition, said, “Jerry White is the person from the White Foundation who set this off. Back in the 1960s he was president of the TAAA (Thorold Amateur Athletic Association) at 19 years of age. Jerry feels that he wouldn’t get what he got out of life if it wasn’t for that, so he wanted to give something back to the community that made him what he is today.”
Whalen said it wasn’t easy to choose the two recipients of the scholarship. “The quality of the applications was fantastic. It was probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.“
Logan McCallum, who plays volleyball, said his life has gotten less stressful now that he’s gotten the scholarship. “It’s changed a lot. I had to work a lot in the summer to pay for school, but with this scholarship it’s helping a lot with my stress. And I find I can have more fun in life and get more opportunities to train for volleyball.”
Marissa Mongelluzzo, who is a cheerleader, was not available for comment.
Whalen said he hopes the ‘Open The Door’ scholarship will continue to reward Thorold students with bright futures in the years to come. “You always hear bad things about the students in the area and you don’t realize what great quality of people we have.”