The National Children’s Cancer Society (NCCS) is celebrating the 10-year milestone of the Beyond the Cure Ambassador Scholarship program by helping even more childhood cancer survivors attend college.
With great appreciation, the NCCS received a matching grant from the Centene Charitable Foundation and the Engelhardt Family Foundation. Thanks to this generous grant, a record number of young cancer survivors were provided tuition assistance with 58 scholarships granted.
“The Beyond the Cure program is meaningful in an abundance of ways. It isn’t just helping childhood cancer survivors financially. They commit to helping support our mission in exchange for the award. It ends up being a full circle starting with the NCCS extending support to childhood cancer survivors, then in turn, the survivors enrich the childhood cancer community even further,” said Julie Komanetsky, VP of Patient & Family Services.
Each awardee is required to provide some form of service to the NCCS or the childhood cancer community. There are several ways that recipients serve including mentoring younger cancer patients, raising awareness of childhood cancer and the NCCS, and fundraising.
“I relished the opportunity to talk with my mentee each week,” shared one recipient. “It helps me to reflect on my health and other blessings while sharing my insights with a young survivor.”
Since the scholarship program’s inception, 370 scholarships have been awarded and more than $1 million has been awarded to childhood cancer survivors attending college.
In addition to scholarships Beyond the Cure focuses on life after cancer. The program helps educate survivors on the issues they may face, sponsors survivorship conferences across the country and gives survivors the opportunity to connect with each other. The program also offers a Late Effects After Treatment Tool (LEATT) that provides a personal summary of potential late effects to survivors.
“No matter what field is chosen, I am always proud and grateful to lead an organization that can walk alongside these tenacious young adults as they set off for school. But it is worth noting that I often see a special quality in so many, that they want to give back to others and choose paths toward jobs that make a difference,” said Mark Stolze, President and CEO of the NCCS.
The 2018-2019 scholarship recipients are from numerous states and will collectively attend 56 universities across the country. They are as follows:
| Colby Atkinson | University of Delaware |
| Amanda Bogart | University of Arkansas |
| Harrison Bond | Vanderbilt University |
| William Brennan | Columbus School of Law at Catholic University |
| Carly Chapman | Marian University – College of Osteopathic Med. |
| Farah Contractor | University of Pennsylvania |
| Elias Coulas | Miami University |
| Olivia Diddlebock | Indiana University at Bloomington |
| Jacob Dominguez | Texas A & M University |
| Anthony Dowd | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
| Kendrie Escoe | Eastern Oklahoma State College |
| Brianna Gansert | Saint Joseph’s University |
| Madelyn Giegling | Truman State University |
| Kristen Glavee | Azusa Pacific University |
| Ana Gonzalez | University of Arizona |
| Savannah Green | Louisiana Tech University |
| Sarah Greenwald | University of Michigan |
| Nicole Guenthner | Washington University |
| Luke Hertzler | Eastern Mennonite University |
| Reagan Hollister | The University of Alabama |
| Cade Johnson | Lamar University |
| Emma Lande | Washington State University |
| Morgan Matthews | University of Utah |
| Miranda Mead | University of St. Thomas |
| Madison Merrifield | University of Tennessee – Knoxville |
| Amara Merritt | Rhode Island School of Design |
| Mariah Michalowski | Savannah College of Art & Design |
| Nishant Mysore | University of California – San Diego |
| Ali Nedved | Bluegrass Community & Technical College |
| Brycen Newman | University of California |
| Grace Padilla | Westminster College of Salt Lake City |
| Gabriella Palasthy | Old Dominion University |
| Emma Paulson | Saint Mary’s College |
| Ashley Persson | California State University |
| Sarah Pierce | Stanford University |
| Dasmine Powell | Kennesaw State University |
| Halle Redfearn | University of California – Berkeley |
| Mitchell Rice | Saint Cloud State University |
| Rebecca Schuck | Thomas Jefferson University |
| Cassidy Scruggs | Grand Canyon University |
| Benjamin Seeley | Chapman University |
| Zachary Sherwood | California State University, Long Beach |
| Abigail Spendlove | Bob Jones University |
| Riley Steiner | Miami University |
| Taegan Strain | University of Kentucky |
| Nathan Syrek | Grand Rapids Community College |
| Catherine Terry | Occidental College |
| Sophia Tilley | Arkansas Tech University |
| Kaylee Troxel | Union University |
| Jacob Waldron | Syracuse University |
| Meghan Walker | Western Washington University |
| Gillian Weigel | Texas State University |
| William Weishaar | Missouri University of Science & Technology |
| Bethany Wells | Brigham Young University |
| Addison Woods | University of Maine at Orono |
| John Worm | Grand Valley State University |
| Megan Wynne | Brigham Young University |
| Tyler Youtz | University of Central Florida |