Education Program History & Overview

Good Tidings supports education by providing education grants to high school seniors in need who have dedicated themselves to extraordinary community service projects. Since its inception, we have granted over $1,000,000 to over 300 deserving high school seniors. In 1999, the Good Tidings Foundation Community Service Scholarship program started small, with five recipients receiving $1,000 each. Today, our program awards $100,000 annually to 20 underserved high school seniors at $5,000 each, providing much needed support to youth who have demonstrated tremendous leadership potential despite their economic circumstances.

Our scholarships change the course of youth's lives by letting them choose their next step, rather than automatically succumbing to the cycle of poverty. Unique is the underserved individual who unselfishly serves others. Our funds award those who make great sacrifices early in life to put others first, many creating their own nonprofit organizations in their teens, with the power of education. We believe that all youth deserve access to education and the opportunity to pursue their personal, academic, and professional goals beyond high school, regardless of their family's socio-economic situation.

Congratulations to the 2012 Community Service Scholarship Recipients!

Class of 2012

Jennifer Au, James Logan High School | Briggitte Bolanos, Antioch High School | Anthony Brendlinger, San Benito High School | Christina Craner, Oakland High School | Tristan Ford, Homestead High School | Guo Gan, Leadership Public Schools – Hayward | Itxaso Garay, Casa Grande High School | Patricia Gonzalez Rios, Life Academy of Health & Bioscience | Jessica Liang, Mills High School | Michelle Lutz, Clayton Valley Charter School | Carlos Medina, Manteca High School | Janira Odar, Mission High School | Emily Peng, Galileo High School | Michael Pham, Jesse M. Bethel High School | Benjamin Quach, Ygnacio Valley High School | Jaqueline Rodriguez, Gonzales High School | Carolina Soto, Elsie Allen High School | Rabiya Subedar, Mission High School | Claire Williams, Amador Valley High School | Tiffany Wong, Castro Valley High School

 

Qualifications & Important Dates

Good Tidings Foundation
Community Service Scholarship

presented by the Jeanne & William Barulich Family Foundation

$5,000 Scholarship
[a total of 20 scholarships totaling $100,000 will be granted]

2012 Applicants must:

  • Be a high school senior graduating in 2013
  • Have financial need
  • Have extraordinary community service accomplishments (far exceeding "minimum service hours" required by schools - not necessarily with hours but in depth of involvement)
  • Reside in one of the following counties: San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Monterey, San Benito, Merced, Stanislaus, Alameda, San Joaquin, Contra Costa, Solano, Yolo, Napa, Sonoma or Marin.
  • Attach a single-sided, two-page (maximum), double-spaced essay describing your unique community service activities, focusing on one project in your essay. Discuss any of the following subjects: what made you choose/create this project, how did you help the community, how many people were affected by your work, why is community service important to you, what have you gained or learned from this experience, and what will you do in the future?
  • Include a one-page letter of recommendation from a teacher, counselor, Charity Director or person familiar with your community service and financial need.

     

    *Undocumented residents are eligible for the scholarship as long as they are accepted into an American school.

    Important Dates:

    August 1, 2012: Applications available on our website
    November 5, 2012: Postmark Deadline for Applications
    November 16-22, 2012: Scholarship Recipients Notified

     

    Our unique scholarships puts our applicants on a level playing field, as it can be equally important and life changing for our recipients to go to a trade school as it is for another to attend Stanford. Our scholarships have taken students to auto mechanic school, community colleges and ivy league schools - none of which they could have attended without our aide. Good Tidings recognizes that there is a great pressure put upon high school students as they prepare for graduation, which is why we award the Community Service Scholarship early in November.