IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 24, 2011
Calista Heritage Foundation Provides $217,000 in Fall Semester Scholarships
Awards Follow Successful Golf Fundraising Event
Calista Heritage Foundation, a non-profit Calista Corporation subsidiary, announced today they are providing $217,000 in scholarships for the first semester of the 2011-2012 academic year. This is the largest scholarship amount granted in a single semester. If all applicants are approved for the spring semester the total award amount for the academic year will double to $434,000.
More than 75 towns, cities and villages are represented as 248 Shareholders and Descendants receive financial assistance. Areas of study are as varied as the home towns of the recipients. From psychology to physical therapy, electrical engineering to petroleum engineering, flight school to law school. Schools attended range from University of Alaska campuses to educational institutions in Colorado, Idaho and beyond.
Past recipients have gone on to earn Master’s degrees and pass the Alaska Bar Exam. One past recipient, and a former intern, is now the president of Calista, Andrew Guy.
The main source of scholarship fundraising is the annual Calista Golf Classic. Held this past June at the Moose Run Golf Course, more than $210,000 was raised for the scholarship fund. This was the most successful fundraising event in the 11-year history of the tournament.
CHF was founded in 2010 and now operates the scholarship fund. Calista donated $1 million to CHF in 2010. Since 1994, more than $2.4 million in scholarships have been awarded.
Along with the focus on education, CHF works closely with the Calista Elders Council to protect and preserve the traditions of the Calista region. The region encompasses approximately 58,000 square miles, nearly 10 percent the land area of Alaska and approximately the size of the state of New York.
“Providing assistance to these students will help ensure there are Alaska Native guardians for the next generation,” said CHF President Debra Call. “We received the most number of applicants in the scholarship fund history. The support of Calista, the sponsors and the community is crucial to the future success of our educational programs.”
The 2011 sponsors of the Calista Golf Classic are as follows, in alphabetical order:
Calista Heritage Foundation also just launched a Facebook page. Their Facebook page can be found at www.facebook.com/pages/Calista-Heritage-Foundation/208189859235877, or as a shortened URL http://on.fb.me/CHFfb.
CHF can be reached at (907) 279-5516, (800) 277-5516 outside of Anchorage, or via email at scholarships@calistacorp.com.
