BLACK DIAMONDS SCHOLARSHIP AWARDED!!
L to R: Dr. April Parker, Reverend Rikki Ferrell, Jr., Vernon Heard and Joyalise's mom Veronica Hulitt
I am VERY PLEASED to say that we culminated the fundraising for the Black Diamonds Scholarship Fund by presenting a $1,000 check to Veronica Hulitt, the mother of our scholarship recipient Joyalise Shelton. Joyalise is attending University of Tennessee this fall but had already left for school early this summer to attend summer courses and get a jump start on her college education!! There are so many reasons to be proud of this young lady and her work ethic is just one of them.
The scholarship presentation took place Sunday morning, August 28th at Joyalise's church, Greater New Bethel Baptist Church, in Inglewood, CA. Reverend Rikki Ferrell, Jr. was gracious enough to host the presentation in conjunction with the church's own college scholarship awards that day. Dr. April Parker, one of the educators on the judging panel, helped to coordinate the event and we are honored to have her associated with the scholarship fund.
Joyalise won the Black Diamonds Scholarship Fund's essay contest sponsored by Positive Black Images magazine. The objective for contest entrants was to detail their idea of their path through college toward their career goal. Also the assignment required that contest participants detail how they would put their schooling to work to contribute to the community they come from.
It was a great pleasure to meet one of the team members that helped to mold Joyalise. Her mom, Vicki, was as gracious and as humble as they come. She commented on how expensive college can be and expressed gratitude for the efforts of Positive Black and the Black Diamonds team. Joyalise is fortunate to have a "steering committee" like her mom and dad. We are fortunate for the lessons you have imparted to Joyalise and anticipate great things on from her your behalf.
We are excited to kick off the next round of fundraising for the second scholarship drive. Be sure and support us on GoFundMe or through our product sales of the t-shirt line we started Black Chick Tees. We have launched an Etsy.com page as our new online store. Support us at https://www.etsy.com/shop/blackchicktees. Let's send a message to kids from our community that their education matters!! We support them and want to see them do better than we have done! Excel!! Rise.Shine.Repeat!!
Pay it forward!
V. Ray
