Below you will find a few testimonials from people who have worked with our foundation.

A thank you letter we received from a 2016 scholarship recipient:

Dear LCC Anonymous donor,

I am honored to be one of the recipients of this scholarship. Thanks to your generous support. I am first generation in my family to attend college. Growing up in a less privileged community has not only offered financial and academic challenges, but also helped me realize the value of a college education. Thank you for your generosity which has allowed me to attend this year without worrying about financial needs. I really appreciate the support you are offering me.

Thank you again for your thoughtful and generous gift.

Sincerely,
April Sherrod

MARC & LORI BASS

“The Margaret Mae Anibal Educational Mentoring Grant has allowed Reaching Out Mentoring South Lane (ROM SL) to become an integral part of the South Lane School District’s services to students. Our mentor coordinators and mentors are now serving up to 75 students weekly in five SLSD schools: Bohemia and Harrison elementary schools, Lincoln Middle School, Kennedy Alternative High School, and Cottage Grove High School. From a classroom at Lincoln Middle School and an office at Cottage Grove High School, our mentor coordinators recruit adult volunteer mentors and coordinate the meetings of referred “at risk” students with these trusted adults weekly.

In addition to focusing on their academic, personal, and social development, the students are encouraged to contribute to the Cottage Grove community through volunteer and service opportunities. Habitat for Humanity’s Crab Feed, the City of Cottage Grove’s downtown cleanup, CG Family Relief Nursery, the annual Rotary Children’s Christmas Party, and Relay for Life are just some of opportunities students have had to contribute their time and effort to making Cottage Grove a great place to live. This community involvement piece has continued to grow as students who have been in the program several years mature and realize the value of contributing to a community that supports its youth. The Margaret Mae Anibal Educational Mentoring Grant had literally made it possible for students who might otherwise be disengaged to feel connected and give back to the Cottage Grove community.”

~Marc & Lori Bass

JULIA JONES

Dear Cottage Grove Community Foundation (Peace Health Medical Renewable Scholarship),

I would like to express my gratitude for your contribution to the continuation of my college education. As an aspiring physician I have been rigorously applying myself to classes and community. I would like to elaborate on what I mean by community. Community is what bonds us humans together. The sense of compassion, care, and trust, built in from the community experience, changes us to perform beyond the norm. A machine could diagnose a patient. A machine could sew up an arm. Yet it is a community member, someone invested in their peers, that makes the experience positive. Their compassion for the patient, the simple small talk that makes the patient feel valued, is what changes everything. This compassion and care is developed outside of the classroom. It is created in the study groups, the housing environments, and the social activities. This is why I also expressed a rigorous application of community. I don’t wish be just an intelligent physician, but one who invests beyond the job. Your investment in me is more than just in the next physician, but the next community member. So thank you. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to not only better myself, but the opportunity to better my community as an invested physician.

Sincerely,

Julia Jones
Biochemistry /Biophysics
Azalea House Vice President

Julia Jones is a 2011 graduate from Cottage Grove High School. She attends OSU where she is majoring in Biochemistry/Biophysics. Upon graduation next year she plans to enter medical school with an ultimate career goal of being an ER Physician. Julia received the Cottage Grove PeaceHealth Medical Scholarship upon high school graduation, and has received three renewable scholarships through the 2014­15 school year. This is a thank you note she wrote this year.