Students Receive Carey Family Foundation Scholarships

Miami FL

09 June, 2021

11:33 AM

Description

Miami Times Staff Report Jun 8, 2021 The Carey Family Foundation has awarded $7,500 in scholarship funding to students at three inner-city Miami-Dade County schools. Scholarships went to three students, one each at Miami Central, Miami Northwestern and Miami Carol City Senior High schools. Each received $2,500 to attend a college of their choice. The foundation, established in 2009 and formerly named after founder Vernon Carey Sr., supports local youth through programs and financial assistance. It has previously donated to youth athletics; renovated the gym at Miami Northwestern, Carey's alma mater; organized turkey giveaways each Thanksgiving holiday; and hosted meal distribution drives across South Florida. Since being drafted as the first-round pick for the Miami Dolphins football team in 2004 after playing at University of Miami, Carey made a commitment to give back to the community that contributed to his success. He said his high school experience helped nurture his love of the game. Going into its fourth year, the scholarship program remains one of the foundation's relatively new initiatives created to combat educational obstacles for youth in low-income communities. Vernon and LaTavia Carey present Carol City Senior High School student Zaria Hightower with a scholarship from their foundation.(Courtesy of Carey Family Foundation) "We are very thankful to be able to help kids in Miami-Dade County, especially at my former high school," said Carey. "Our priority when we started our foundation in 2009 was to give children a vision of hope." Recipients of this year's scholarship awards are Edrica Jean-Jacques, George Pickens IV and Zaria Hightower. Jean-Jacques, a mentor at Big Brothers Big Sisters and a volunteer at North Shore Medical Center and Achieve Miami, will be attending Florida State University. Pickens, a PeerForward advisor and president of 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project at Northwestern, plans to attend Florida International University. Carol City resident Hightower, a volunteer with Special Olympics Florida, will attend Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. Scholarship applications were judged by the board; assessment was based on grades and extracurricular activities. A total of 10 students have benefited from the foundation's scholarship program to date and the next round of applications will be accepted in January. Visit CareyFamilyFoundation.org for more information. The Miami Times is the largest Black-owned newspaper in the south serving Miami's Black community since 1923. The award-winning weekly is frequently recognized as the best Black newspaper in the country by the National Newspaper Publishers Association.