UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- The Pennsylvania Pork Producers Council has established a new scholarship endowment that will benefit students in the College of Agricultural Sciences who have a demonstrated financial need.
A longtime supporter of the college's scholarship program, the council made a $50,000 gift to establish the Pennsylvania Pork Producers Council Founders Trustee Scholarship. The scholarship was named in honor of John Henkel, Herb Schick and Eugene Wingert, pork producers who founded the council nearly five decades ago. First preference for the award will be given to students majoring in animal science.
A nonprofit organization, the Pennsylvania Pork Producers Council provides education and resources to assist producers in providing a safe and wholesome pork product while upholding their commitment to animal well-being, the environment and their communities.
"The purpose of the council is to promote pork and support the families raising the animals," said Jason Manbeck, pork producer from Berks County and the council's immediate past president. "Ensuring the future of the industry also is vital to our mission.
"Supporting students with scholarships is one way the council can nurture those interested in food-animal production while honoring those who have dedicated their time and energy to our industry," he said.
The Trustee Matching Scholarship Program maximizes the impact of private giving while directing funds to students as quickly as possible, meeting the urgent need for scholarship support. For Trustee Scholarships created through the end of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students on June 30, Penn State will provide an annual 10 percent match of the total pledge or gift.
This level is an increase from the program's original match of 5 percent, and it is available only for new endowments of $50,000 or more. The University match, which is approximately double the endowment's annual spendable income, continues in perpetuity, multiplying the support available for students with financial need.
"On behalf of the Department of Animal Science and our students who will benefit from the generosity of the Pennsylvania Pork Producers Council, I am elated that this Trustee Scholarship has been established," said Terry Etherton, head of the college's Department of Animal Science. "Moreover, it fittingly celebrates the legacy of the three individuals who founded the council. I am very honored that the council elected to commemorate their contributions by creating this endowed scholarship."
The council's gift will help the College of Agricultural Sciences to achieve the goals of For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students. This University-wide effort is directed toward a shared vision of Penn State as the most comprehensive, student-centered research university in America.
The University is engaging Penn State's alumni and friends as partners in achieving six key objectives: ensuring student access and opportunity, enhancing honors education, enriching the student experience, building faculty strength and capacity, fostering discovery and creativity, and sustaining the University's tradition of quality. The campaign's top priority is keeping a Penn State degree affordable for students and families. The For the Future campaign is the most ambitious effort of its kind in Penn State's history, with the goal of securing $2 billion by 2014.