32 teens get step closer to $10,000
As Kelli Wright and her mother, Debra, heard Kelli's name called at the Make Kids Count drawing Tuesday at Taylor Hyundai on Washington Road, they were excited.
Nick Funsch, of Taylor Auto Group, draws names in the
13-18 category of the Make Kids Count Scholarship drawing at Taylor Hyundai on Washington Road. Stacy Montoya of The Augusta Chronicle holds the box.
Photo by Charmain Z. Brackett
"I've been praying," her mother said.
Kelli, a T.W. Josey High School freshman, wants to attend Georgetown University and obtain a medical degree.
The grand prize of $10,000 in the Make Kids Count scholarship contest would go a long way toward helping Kelli obtain that dream, Wright said.
The Augusta Chronicle kicked off a yearlong contest to provide scholarships for children in June. When the year is complete, The Chronicle and other sponsors will have given away more than $80,000 in bonds, according to Julian Miller, the president of The Chronicle.
"We're thrilled in doing this," Miller said. "The idea was to try to recognize kids, and I can't think of anything better than $10,000 to go to college."
The drawings in the 13-18 category had more than 1,000 entries, he said. From those, an initial 64 were chosen randomly, and at Tuesday's drawing, the number was cut in half in another random drawing.
The names drawn Tuesday were: Bryant Potter, of North Augusta; Jaquita Wright, of Augusta; April Wynn, of Augusta; Anthony Thomas, of North Augusta; Brandon Zapata, of Evans; Alicia Dupass, of Augusta; Molly Grady, of Augusta; Kenny Heath, of Aiken; Donna Brown, of Hephzibah; Sara Long, of North Augusta; Kelli Wright, of Augusta; Ben Velky, of North Augusta; Kimberly Stampley, of Jackson; Morgan Lewis, of Lincolnton; Rutherford Wilson, of Hephzibah; Billy Probus, of Augusta; Brandon Rutland, of North Augusta; Tony Cliett, of Grovetown; Shauna Perry, of Aiken; Anthony Scott, of Graniteville; Natalie Sheppard, of Evans; Andrew Wynne, of Augusta; Brian Lumpkin, of Louisville, Ga.; Kelora Miles, of Hephzibah; Rebecca Lamar, of Augusta; Jamie Rush, of Grovetown; Shalyn Towns, of Hephzibah; Cole Portney, of North Augusta; Scott Rogers, of Waynesboro; Erica West, of North Augusta; Brittany Lacy, of North Augusta; and Misty Wright, of Beech Island.
Additional drawings will be held, dividing the field in half each time until the grand prize is given away. The date for the final drawing has not been scheduled, but it probably will be toward the end of May, said Stacy Montoya, of The Chronicle's marketing department.
Because of the community response to the scholarship drawings, Miller said, "I think this is something we will always do."
Other sponsors in the contest include Georgia Bank and Trust Co., the Augusta Lynx, Scana Energy, Knology, Partners in Achievement, Platt's Funeral Home, Fat Man's, Taylor Auto Group and Dillard's Inc.