Foundation awards $16,500 to area students | Schools

MT. HEALTHY, OH (FOX19) - The Aubrey Rose Foundation has awarded $16,500 to 31 area eighth grade students for exemplary kindness, compassion and efforts to give back to their community.

The students, from 26 schools from the Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area, were awarded $500 scholarships to be applied toward their private high school tuition this fall.  They, and their parents, were surprised with the scholarships at their school's graduation or award ceremonies this spring, said Nancy Hollenkamp, foundation founder. Winners were chosen based on written essays.

"If you give your heart, time, and money, you will be in a position to receive," Cincinnati State Technical and Community College president Dr. O'dell Owens told the students at the reception Tuesday evening at Aston Oaks Golf Club, in North Bend.

Owens was the featured speaker at the reception, which was also attended by parents, teachers and principals. This is the 11th consecutive year the foundation has presented the scholarships. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded more than $134,000 in scholarships to 260 area students.

Allie Stevens, 17, who will be a senior at St. Ursula Academy this fall, was presented with the Foundation's Above and Beyond Award. The $1,000 scholarship is granted to one student who works tirelessly on behalf of the community. Stevens and her family have volunteered with the Aubrey Rose Foundation in nearly every capacity. This year, Stevens volunteered as a commentator during the American Girl Fashion Show, the Foundation's largest fundraiser. She also plans to join the Foundation's Junior Scholarship Board once she is a college sophomore.

"We are delighted to be able to give these scholarships in honor of the spirit of our daughter, Aubrey Rose," Hollenkamp said. Aubrey died two days before her third birthday from a rare congenital heart defect. "She was such a compassionate little girl, who always had a smile on her face."

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