CBT offers $2,000 awards to students

Columbia Basin Trust (CBT) is accepting applications for two of its community service award programs.

In a statement, the CBT said it will give out 66 awards, each valued at $2,000 and based on volunteer service rather than academic standing.

College Community Service Awards (CCSA) are intended to benefit Basin college students who plan to further their education. Youth Community Service Awards (YCSA) are given to graduating high school students. Deadlines are March 15 and April 13. And more details can be found online at www.cbt.org/programs.

One of last year’s CCSA recipients spoke of the benefit to her family: “I am very grateful to receive this award from Columbia Basin Trust. I am a single mother of two, and a full-time nursing student. The award is a great help to my family, and is very much appreciated,” Melissa Monsen, a nursing student at the College of the Rockies, said in the statement.

Wayne Lundeberg, the CBT’s director of Youth Initiatives, this kind of assistance benefits communities and residents.

Twenty-one awards are offered to Basin residents attending Selkirk College, College of the Rockies and the Revelstoke Centre of the Okanagan College for their use at a college or university of their choice. The other 45 are offered to high school grads from a Basin high school, alternate school or other institution that grants Ministry of Education-recognized grad diplomas.

CCSA applications are available at each college and online at www.cbt.org/ccsa. Application deadlines are specific to each college.

YCSA applications are available at local high schools and online at www.cbt.org/ycsa. Applications must be submitted by April 13, 2012, to the public senior secondary high school where the applicant resides.

For more information on the award or application process, contact Michelle d’Entremont at mdentremont@cbt.org or 1-800-505-8998.