Members of the Orchid Island Golf and Beach Club kicked off their annual Orchid Outreach fundraising campaign with a cocktail reception at the gorgeous riverfront home of Keena and Chris Clifford. Orchid Outreach provides scholarships to club employees and family their members, as well as other Indian River County students pursuing four-year degrees at Indian River State College.
To ensure that 100 percent of the money raised would be directed toward scholarships, all of the tasty and beautifully presented hors d’oeuvres were prepared and served by a dozen-strong food committee organized by Pam Sanchez and Alex Heater.
Tracy Lamport, who chaired the Orchid Outreach committee for the second year in a row, said the evening was a thank-you to those who had already donated, and was also a way to educate new members who might wish to contribute to 2016-2017 scholarships.
Since 2002 Orchid Outreach has supported students seeking to earn or complete their four-year degrees at colleges and universities. When the program first began, priority was given to Indian River County first responders and their families, but it now also supports club staff, who have become like family to many of the members. In just 14 years, they have awarded 40 scholarships through Orchid Outreach dues, with all program expenses underwritten by the committee.
“The requirements are the same as other scholarship committees,” said Lamport. “We are looking for students who want to be part of society and better themselves by earning an education to do good works for the community.”
The connection Orchid members have with the scholarship recipients creates a strong personal bond, with students often having regular contact with their supporters.
“Orchid has a very unique situation with their employees,” said Lamport. “When you help someone go through college while they are working here, and you see them on a daily basis, you get really close and personally involved with their lives. It is the most rewarding thing I do. I love knowing that they are doing so well and that we have had some part in that.”
Two scholarship recipients, Diana Rugani and Michael Sonntag, attended the reception to thank the members and share their progress and they also hoped to inspire support for future applicants.
Rugani, an Orchid club employee in the accounts payable division, had already received her associate’s degree. Now, thanks to the scholarship she was awarded, she is working toward a B.S. in Accounting.
“I have always wanted to finish my degree but did not have the funds,” said Rugani, who has a son attending Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and also supports an elderly parent. “Now my son and I are racing to see who will finish first.”
“The members take such a personal interest in all of us,” said Sonntag. His scholarship enabled him to graduate last semester and he is now applying to medical schools in hopes of becoming an orthopedic surgeon. “I am just so grateful to them for all the opportunities they have given me.”
Scholarships have been administered through the Scholarship Foundation of Indian River County since the program began, and an additional partnership with the Indian River State College Foundation was initiated in 2012.
“Quail Valley and John’s Island supports scholarships for their employees, but Orchid’s commitment is very unique,” said SFIRC Executive Director Camilla Wainwright.“I have seen kids who would never have been able to afford being outside the state or to be in other settings without the Orchid scholarship. You just love to see the kids really expand because of school; it is so rewarding.”