Clinton scholarship recipients part of lasting legacy
The Community Foundation of Greater Dubuque establishes endowment funds that will provide grant awards for years to come. That makes it a go-to organization for community leaders like Bernie Lehman, who wanted to memorialize a loved one and create a lasting legacy while acquiring a reliable source of funding.
The Bernard and Anna Lehman Scholarship Fund was established in 2011 to help Clinton High School students pursue higher education by providing incentives for academic progress, reducing the financial burden, and creating a positive impact in the community by way of recipients’ successes.
Over the years, the endowment fund has helped numerous Clinton High School students achieve their educational and career goals.
A focus on mental well-being
Katie Pollpeter received the Lehman Scholarship upon graduation in 2016. Today, she studies psychology at Clinton Community College and shows her passion for therapy and counseling by leading mental health discussions on depression and anxiety with classes at the college.
Katie knows how important access to mental health care is and says that in the future, she plans to enroll in a program at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital to help prepare parents and families for the death of a child.
Katie is part of Phi Theta Kappa honor society and works with at-risk middle school students to keep them involved in school. She says that the scholarship gave her the motivation she needs to excel in school and influence others.
Seeing a future in optometry
After her father lost his sight due to diabetes, Genevieve Ehlers was motivated to pursue a career as an optometrist. In 2015, she received the Lehman Scholarship, enabling her to study biology with a pre-med focus at Luther College. After school, she plans on researching the link between diabetes and sight loss.
Currently, Genevieve is an admissions ambassador at Luther and vice president for the performing arts community. In the fall, she will be a microbiology lab assistant.
Receiving the scholarship, she says, allowed her to get involved in her school and take three January-term study abroad trips to Europe and South Africa.
“This scholarship makes all our hard work worth it,” Genevieve says. “Someone has recognized the work you’ve put in and rewarded it. It allows you to do some of the things you never thought you would get to do.”
A connection to her community
Following in her parents’ footsteps of law, McKenna Greenwalt hopes to become a civil rights attorney to better the lives of immigrants. Today, she is pursuing that path by studying criminal justice and sociology/philosophy at Coe College — and the Lehman Scholarship enabled her to do so.
Growing up in Clinton her entire life and being highly involved in activities at her high school, McKenna has a strong connection to her community.
“Clinton is home and will always be my home,” she says. “Whether my parents move 10 hours away or I’m 10 states away, Clinton has helped me make the person I am today.”
The scholarship also has allowed McKenna to continue her participation in athletics. She is part of the college’s volleyball team and coaches a club volleyball team of 14-year-olds.
‘It takes a village’
Without the endowment and the contributions of its donors, funds would not be raised for recipients of the Lehman Scholarship. With an understanding of the Community Foundation’s role and the importance of the endowment fund, the scholarship recipients say they are grateful to Bernie and all who have donated to the fund.
“It goes further than the money,” McKenna says. “You put in all this time, and someone in your community recognizes it and helps you get to that next level. All of the people who have touched us helped us become the people we are today.”
“I would like to go back to the old saying that it takes a village,” Katie adds. “The people who donate and invest time into foundations like this are part of that village.”
To donate to this endowment, click here.