Colorado Garden Foundation Proceeds Help Send Bright Young Ag Student to CSU
Did you know that your attendance at this weekend’s Colorado Garden Foundation’s (CGF) Fall Home Show will help send a Colorado student to college? One hundred percent of every ticket sold at the Colorado Fall Home Show is invested in college scholarships for education in the green and agricultural industries, and horticulture-related grant projects throughout Colorado.
Every year Colorado Garden Foundation helps further agriculture or horticulture education in our state via financial aid to bright young students who want to pursue degrees in those fields. In 2019, the Foundation awarded a four-year fullride scholarship and fourteen additional scholarships to college students across the state.
This year’s featured four year fullride scholarship recipient is Clarissa Dukeminier, a 2019 graduate of Montezuma – Cortez High School in Cortez, CO. Dukeminier is in Fort Collins attending Colorado State University, (CSU) this fall. There are currently five full ride CGF backed students at CSU. “I have the greatest job in the world, at least that’s the feeling I get when I award grants and scholarships to deserving organizations and individuals, using ticket proceeds from our shows each year,” said Jim Fricke, Executive Director for Colorado Garden Foundation. “Awarding a full-ride scholarship to Clarissa was especially rewarding for everyone on our Board this year. We’ve never met a young person quite like Clarissa. Her internal drive to succeed despite financial and personal challenges is something to witness. We’re going to see great things from Clarissa and it’s an honor to be able to contribute to her journey and her future successes.”
When asked what the scholarship would mean to her Clarissa said, “I have been raised to believe that without education, you will not be able to go anywhere in life. With my degree I will have endless opportunities to make the world a healthier place by doing something that I love. I want to be able to travel and find solutions to many of the world plant epidemics and then most likely settle back in Colorado to open my own nursery.” The full ride scholarship Dukerminier received includes tuition, fees, room and board and all required books. In addition, she received a laptop computer at the start of the school year.
The aforementioned scholarships bring CGF’S 2019 total awards to some $720,000 in scholarships and grants. Earlier this year CGF gave out more than $513,453 in horticulture-related grants to 64 organizations. This year’s two largest nonprofit grant winners were Denver Botanic Gardens, of Denver, and WOW! Children’s Museum of Lafayette, CO.
Grants and scholarships are awarded from ticket proceeds generated at the CGF’S two annual shows: Colorado Garden & Home Show and Colorado Fall Home Show. Since the 1970s, Colorado Garden Foundation has awarded more than $10 million to more than 300 organizations in Colorado. To learn more about the grants and scholarship program, please visit Coloradogardenfoundation.org.