On Sunday, June 16th, four high school graduates received the Foy scholarship. The Peace United Church of Christ and St. Mark African Methodist Episcopal help fund the Foy scholarship through donations.

For the past two decades the Foy Scholarship has provided thousands of dollars supporting students of color. Rev. Anthony Galloway with St. Mark AME says the scholarship is named Rev. Arthur Foy III. He tragically passed away in a car accident in 2004, and the community created a scholarship honoring his efforts for BIPOC youth.

“We have a large gap between white students and students of color in terms of college attainment and being able to make it all the way through. So this scholarship is designed to be a support for BIPOC youth,” Rev. Galloway said. “I think today we have about five awardees that are going to be getting a scholarship in some form. We always try to give at least one fifteen hundred dollars scholarship and then subsequent smaller ones as well.”

Rev. Galloway says this week also is significant, because of Juneteenth, on Wednesday June 19th. Members of the Central Hillside Community Gospel Choir sang in jubilation for the federal holiday.

“We’ve taken our regular Sunday worship and turned it into a community event. We eat together, we hang out together, we have worship together, we sing songs together to honor all of those whose freedom was fought for,” Rev. Galloway said. “So our Juneteenth Father’s Day brunch is one, but we also have the NAACP’s Juneteenth festivities that happen on Wednesday on Juneteenth. So you’re going to see a whole week of celebrations on this holiday that is now enshrined in the state of Minnesota and in the federal government.”

Both high school graduates and college undergraduates continuing their higher learning can apply for the Foy scholarship. Arthur Calinao, one of the Foy Scholarship recipients, talked about his role models who encouraged his learning.

“My dad, Jason Chapman. He served in the Navy for 20 years active duty. Him and my mom, really pushed me to, be a better person. They also have been supporting me through, the past 18 years,” Calinao said. “I’m grateful for the opportunity. And everybody here is really good with giving back to the community and just having a good time.”

Ziyah Xzandra another recipient of the scholarship, said her mom helped her throughout high school even during a tragedy.

“She’s been very consistent in pushing me through everything. Last summer, my goodness, I had a house fire and I was living out of my car for a whole six months,” Xzandra said. “She was still helping me do her best even without whoever had to stay consistent in applying for these things and applying for school and we made it out.”

A couple other recipients of the Foy Scholarship are Miret Anchamo Grant and Naveah Crawford. They also shared some advice for students failing classes, having mental health issues and other problems in school.

“Remember that high school isn’t like everything. It’s not life. That’s just the stepping stone and what you want to do. The path to college helps you navigate. How you want to live your life. It gives you more freedom to choose, what you want to do,” Anchamo Grant said. “I feel like a lot of stuff with high school, your current state and what you’re in, it gets in your head. Your friends, relationships, teachers, all this stuff,” Crawford said. “If you could keep, a bigger picture of what’s important for you. You just got to stay focused on your goal, and you’re going to be just fine, I promise.”

Also for more stories about Juneteenth you can read more here.