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The Golden LEAF Foundation announced that 215 rural North Carolina students were selected to receive up to a $12,000 scholarship, including two in Davie County.

Students will receive a $3,000 scholarship each year for up to four years of undergraduate study at a participating four-year North Carolina college or university. Recipients from rural and tobacco-dependent or economically distressed North Carolina counties are selected based on career and educational goals, a review of school and community service activities, academic performance, length of residence in the county and expressed intent to contribute to the state’s rural communities upon graduation from college.

The Golden LEAF Foundation established the Golden LEAF Scholarship to broaden educational opportunities and provide support to students from rural counties with the goal  that after graduation recipients will return and contribute back to rural communities. The N.C. State Education Assistance Authority (NCSEAA) administers the program and selects students for awards.

“We are proud to award scholarships to hardworking and bright students with deep roots in their rural communities,” said Scott T. Hamilton, Golden LEAF foundation president, chief executive officer. “These students were selected out of a pool of more than 1,500 applicants. We look forward to the future success of these scholarship recipients as they follow their education pursuits and develop into North Carolina’s next generation of rural leaders.”

“Congratulations to all of the Golden LEAF Scholarship recipients,” said Sen. Joyce Krawiec. “These students dedicated their academic performances with excellence resulting in this great honor. The future is bright for these scholars in whatever career they may choose. I am proud of each and every recipient and look forward to seeing their successes.”

“I’m so excited to hear that we have two students from Davie County receiving the Golden LEAF Scholarship,” said Rep. Julia Howard. “This is a tremendous honor. We will all benefit from the knowledge and skills these students will bring back to rural North Carolina communities.”

Landon Jones from Davie County Early College High School and Valerie Vides from Davie County High School were each selected for a scholarship.

The Golden LEAF Foundation is a nonprofit organization established in 1999 to receive a portion of North Carolina’s funding from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement with cigarette manufacturers.

For 20 years, Golden LEAF has worked to increase economic opportunity in rural and tobacco-dependent communities through leadership in grantmaking, collaboration, innovation, and stewardship as an independent and perpetual foundation.

The foundation helped create 65,000 jobs, more than half a billion dollars in new payrolls and more than 85,000 workers trained or retrained for higher wages.

For more information about Golden LEAF and its programs, visit www.goldenleaf.org.