The success of the Oct. 1 Umpqua Strong 9k + 5k/run-walk could be measured not only in the smiles of those attending, but also in the stroke of a permanent marker.
The run-walk, starting and ending in Roseburg’s Stewart Park, was an event to raise money for scholarships honoring those that were killed on Oct. 1, 2015.
Initially, a 3 by 5 foot check was printed for the amount of $50,000, payable to the UCC Foundation. By day’s end, an event administrator had to hastily scribble a six over the five in the amount window with a permanent marker, as more participants became involved than originally anticipated and an additional $10,000 was raised.
Ten scholarships have been set up, supported from the outpouring of donated support from the over 2,000 runners and walkers. Nine of these scholarships have been set up in the individual names of those who were killed on Oct.1, 2015 with the remaining scholarship being in the name of all survivors collectively.
The criteria for scholarship eligibility are as varied as the people for whom they honor and have been determined mostly by the families of the victims to reflect the ambitions, passions and the personal triumphs their students had brought to the UCC campus.
Writing, theater, hardships, new beginnings and addiction recovery are a few of the different scholarship distinctions.
Whatever the distinctions, the money raised by the community (and by many far outside of it) has the UCC Foundation pleased. As Susan Taylor, executive director of the Foundation explains, these scholarship opportunities should be available for many years to come; “50 years from now” she states would be reasonable to expect the availability of these endowments.