Adams County foundation awards 67 scholarships at annual banquet

Sixty-seven scholarships moved the Adams County Community Foundation to a milestone that matters far beyond a banquet hall. More than 100 students, parents, donors and supporters filled the W3CU auditorium in Winchester on April 20, and 41 scholarship recipients were there to see the county’s growing endowment system at work.

The foundation said the 67 awards brought its total to 201 scholarships since it was founded seven years ago. That is a sharp increase from 2021, when only five students received scholarships. Linda Stepp and other foundation leaders have framed that growth as proof that more Adams County families are using local philanthropy to blunt the cost of postsecondary education.

The foundation was created in 2019 after concerned Adams Countians saw a need for a local endowment organization, a need that grew more urgent after the closure of area power plants. By 2024, the group said it had grown from a few thousand dollars to a little more than $1 million in five years, had awarded 91 student scholarships and had also issued 25 community grants. School districts and guidance counselors helped spread the word, and the Scioto Foundation remained important because Adams County still did not have the staff to manage investments on its own.

Five endowed scholarship funds have financed every award the foundation has made so far: the C.E. Smith Scholarship Fund, the Adams County Scholarship Fund, the Charles Hugh McGovney Scholarship Fund, the Earl & Helen Johnson Scholarship Fund and the First State Bank Dan Ferguson Scholarship Fund. First State Bank sponsored the banquet, W3CU hosted it, and the Scioto Foundation handled administration for the scholarship program. The C.E. Smith Family Scholarship Fund, established in 2022, has already awarded 26 scholarships on its own.

Just as important for Adams County’s economy, the foundation said it supports not only four-year college students but also those pursuing technical, medical and workforce certifications. That broadens the program from a college aid ceremony into part of the county’s labor pipeline, helping local employers look toward a future where more residents can be trained, credentialed and employed close to home.