Officials at the Fort Myers Life Plan Community of Cypress Cove at HealthPark Florida announced receipt recently of a $30,000 endowed gift to support its budding staff scholarship program.
Community Philanthropy Specialist Allen Abbott says that the generous donation from Cypress Cove resident Bill Nichols “guarantees that the seven-month old scholarship program will have a bright future.”
Named the Bill & Janet Nichols Scholarship, the annual award will provide support to Cypress Cove student employees seeking a professional career in the medical field. Creation of the scholarship explains Abbott “is a way for the Nichols family to offer a perpetual path to purposeful living for our student employees.”
Michele Wasserlauf, executive director at Cypress Cove, commended the Nichols family for their continued support and gifting to community projects. Three years ago, Mr. Nichols, in honor of his late wife, Janet, provided the needed funding for the development of a fenced dog park – T-Bone Dog Park. Mr. Nichols wife Janet’s nickname was affectionately known as “T-Bone!”
Still in its infancy, the scholarship program, in November, awarded $24,000 in scholarship assistance to 12 qualifying college student employees. Eight of those 12 employee recipients are pursuing degrees in the field of health care.
The program’s purpose, explains Wasserlauf, “is to financially reward our employees for their educational endeavors. Most of today’s college students face a difficult financial hurdle. We are hopeful that this program will help ease some of their burden.”