The Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund raised $16,607 during its annual spring style show luncheon on Thursday at Vapors Live.
Along with demonstrating the latest spring fashions from local businesses, the event featured a silent auction, cash bar, and a catered lunch. All proceeds fund scholarships for single parents throughout Garland County.
ASPSF volunteer Brynn Hobbs, a State Farm Insurance agent from Malvern who has volunteered with the group for over five years, said it is inspiring working with the students and hearing their stories.
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"Just seeing how hard they are fighting for their kids, really, and to better their lives," he said. "That's really what the mission of the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund is. Our mission is simple, it's just to help bring students, especially single parents, out of poverty by helping them get that education that they need.
"At the end of the day, we want to be that person in their corner, their biggest cheerleader, their biggest ally, helping make sure that they reach the finish line."
ASPSF is a volunteer-driven organization. Its annual need in Garland County alone is $88,500 annually.
"The money that we provide, it may go straight to the tuition, but it might also be tires," Hobbs said. "It might be their baby needs a car seat, it could be child care, anything we can do that might help make sure they get to that finish line."
Recent scholarship recipients Katrina Sullivan and Mikki Yamauchi shared their stories about how the scholarship has impacted their and their children's lives.
Katrina Sullivan, who is pursuing a registered nursing degree, said she never thought she would be in the place she is now. Her husband was killed in action while in Iraq in the largest mass casualty at that time.
"I was not prepared for that loss," she said. "Who could be? I wish I could say that I managed it with grace and made all the right decisions. but the truth is I was lost for a very long time. I was raising my children, trying to figure out how to make new dreams and new plans. And it turns out that it is really hard to do when you're carrying around a broken heart."
She said she knew she wanted to become a nurse, but did not have the confidence or the finances to do so. She ultimately finished her prerequisites for nursing school and is now attending Baptist Health College in Little Rock where she is wrapping up her first semester in the RN program.
"I was so full of gratitude when I was awarded the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship in February for more than the financial reasons one might initially think," she said. "It went directly to paying my tuition and that lifted a heavy burden. And I was very grateful. But what meant more to me, and something I don't think donors understand, is what you're also giving is belief and encouragement in someone."
Mikki Yamauchi, who works as a unit coordinator at CHI St. Vincent, is pursuing a degree in health Information technology at National Park College.
"I eventually dropped out of school so I could focus on my child," she said of her early days struggling as a single parent. "A couple years down the road, I met somebody, was married, had my youngest, and by 23 years old, I was back in school. I wanted to finish college."
She was working as a bartender at the time but said she did not want to do that for the rest of her life.
"I wouldn't get home till 2 in the morning and I wouldn't see my kids. But three years later, after what shouldn't have been a marriage, ended up getting divorced, had to drop out of school, got fired from my job, and it was just me, a 3-year-old, a 6-year-old with a mortgage, a car payment, and I fell into a severe depression," she said.
She said the scholarship not only helped her for school but helped her for her family.
"When y'all give this money, it's not just to go in our pockets, and it's not, 'Oh I'm paying for somebody's school.' You're paying for my son's future. My son who would probably not be here today if I hadn't have made this decision. ... That's something that a lot of people wish they could do for their kids and they just can't," she said.
Guests at Thursday's annual Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund spring style show, held at the Vapors Live, listen to recipients tell their stories of how the scholarship has impacted their lives. (The Sentinel-Record/Donald Cross)