Lily Wright, Sean Finnigan and Noah Hall were among Dryden High School’s scholarship recipients in 2025.
Coming off another record-breaking year, Four County Community Foundation (4CCF) is excited to announce the start of their 2025-26 scholarship season. The application portal is now open and accepting submissions from high school seniors and current college students until March 1, 2026.
In 2025, 4CCF awarded more than $880,000 to 200-plus recipients and expects to meet or exceed those statistics again in 2026 thanks to the generosity of existing donors and new scholarship fund creators including The Pond Guy.
“The Pond Guy is committed to giving back to the employees and community that have shaped our success. We are proud to introduce a new tradition: The Pond Guy Annual Local Scholarship Fund,” said Founder/CEO Jason Blake.
“This scholarship is open to Armada High School seniors, The Pond Guy employees, and their families, and was created to help individuals pursue their educational goals while strengthening the long-term success of our community. It supports college programs, trade schools, and industry certifications, empowering each person to choose the path that fits them best and build a strong future for themselves and the community we serve.”
New to this cycle is the launch of a separate Trade School Scholarship. Existing donors have dedicated funds to this program that features a shorter application with no deadline. At present, those scholarships included in the Trade School offering include the Koerner Family Foundation Scholarship, Donald Koning Scholarship, Hilda M. Hill Memorial Scholarship (Vo-Tech) Scholarship and the Floyd W. West Memorial Scholarship.
“We believe that creating this year-round offering should better meet the needs of high school seniors who finalize their plans after graduation or those post-graduates who start classes outside of the traditional school year,” said 4CCF’s Executive Director Kathy Dickens.
Both the traditional and Trades School scholarship application can be accessed at https://www.4ccf.org/scholarships/apply/. Those students who complete the general application will then be notified of what scholarships they are eligible to receive and prompted to complete the next steps which can include essay responses and letters of recommendation.
Also of note is awardees’ ability to use scholarship dollars for room and board, in addition to the previously allowed tuition, books and fees.
The Foundation is home to 80 scholarships that mainly serve students within their service area—Almont, Armada Capac, Dryden, Imlay City, Oxford, Richmond and Romeo—plus other regional and state-wide awards.
Anyone with questions about the 4CCF scholarship process is encouraged to contact Maria Brown at mbrown@4ccf.org or (810) 798-0909.
Interested in learning more about starting a scholarship fund? Reach out to Kathy Dickens at kdickens@4ccf.org or (810) 798-0909.
Almont High School 2025 scholarship recipients pose for a photo at 4CCF’s Scholarship Celebration event in May.