School meets goal of $10K for scholarship

Elyria Catholic raised $10,000 for a scholarship to honor student Jakob Hwang, 17, who battled cancer.

In just five months, a scholarship honoring a late Elyria Catholic High School student has raised $10,000, allowing it to be endowed for future years.

After Jakob Hwang, 17, died last June after a year and a half battle with nonHodgkin’s lymphoma, a group of students from the class of 2018 approached the administration with hopes of starting something in Jakob’s name, said Michelle Hoffman, director of advancement, who facilitated the establishment of the scholarship.

“Initially, the students started with a smaller goal at $5,000,” Hoffman said. “We knew that we wanted to do more and attempt to get it endowed, so we set the goal at $10,000.”

Elyria Catholic began collecting donations in January and reached the $10,000 goal in early June, she said.

Hoffman said by endowing the scholarship, one junior will receive $500 each year to be applied to their senior year tuition at the high school.

Elyria Catholic junior Mackenzie Kemer is the first recipient of the scholarship.

The call for donations was spread by word of mouth to the student body and through social media to get the community involved.

The HwangStrong Foundation, established in Jakob’s name by his parents, Karri and Dr. John Hwang, to help families cope with a child’s cancer diagnosis, also contributed to the scholarship fund.

“The Elyria Catholic community is always generous when it comes to the students, and the Jakob Hwang scholarship is no exception to that,” Hoffman said.

Having reached their goal for the scholarship, the students have been nothing but supportive of the cause, she said.

“Everybody’s interested and excited about it,” Hoffman said. “It’s sad and we’re still recovering, but they’re excited to participate in it.”

Additionally, she said she worked with Jakob’s parents to establish the criteria and requirements for the scholarship.

Any junior at the high school student can apply and is required to have maintained a grade point average of 3.2 or higher, participate in at least one sport and be involved in a faith-based activity at the school.

“These all mirror what Jakob’s experience was at Elyria Catholic,” Hoffman said. “He was known for having incredible faith, even through his battle with cancer.”