Lost River Pride, Inc. has partnered with Hardy County Community Foundation to provide a $1,000 scholarship each year to one graduating senior from any high school in Grant, Hampshire, Hardy or Pendleton counties who has demonstrated support of and advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community, through the Lost River Pride Scholarship Fund.

Students can apply for the scholarship online at https://www.ewvcf.org/lost-river-pride-scholarship-application or through their guidance offices starting in early December. Applications are due by Feb. 28, 2024.

“Lost River Pride is excited to partner with the Hardy County Community Foundation to launch this new scholarship program aimed at providing financial support to West Virginia’s next generation of leaders and allies,” said Rob Hawks, president of Lost River Pride. “This scholarship is not only an important first step in demonstrating the dedication and commitment of the LGBTQ+ community to creating an enduring legacy, but also a shining example of how we can work together to create a more equitable and inclusive world for everyone.”

The Lost River Pride Scholarship is specifically designed to empower and inspire students who have actively engaged in activities that promote equality and oppose discrimination.

Any high school senior or prior year graduate with financial need enrolling in an accredited college, university, or community/technical/trade school offering a degree program of not less than two years who matches other qualifying criteria will be eligible. Preference will be given to students who choose to continue their education at a West Virginia institution.

For further information about Community Foundation Scholarships, including the Lost River Pride Scholarship, please visit https://www.ewvcf. org/grants-scholarships. For additional information, please call 304-538-3431 or send an email to [email protected].

Lost River Pride is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes. It sponsors and produces the annual Lost River Pride Event, and related activities, serving the Lost River Valley lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ+) communities, by educating and advocating nondiscrimination, diversity, pride, inclusion, and equality among the LGBTQ+ community and their allies throughout the Lost River Valley and beyond.

The Stanley and Naomi Moyer scholarship will now be offered through the Hardy County Community Foundation.  East Hardy High School seniors can apply annually at ewvcf.awardspring.com.

Stanley Moyer was the founding President of the Hardy County Community Foundation and firmly believed in its mission of “improving the quality of life in Hardy County by Connecting People with Community Causes that matter to them most.”

Amy Pancake, the Foundation’s director, was overjoyed to be able to bring the Stanley and Naomi Moyer Scholarship home to the community foundation. “I started working for the community foundation shortly after it was established, so Stanley and I learned together. He was always so kind and patient, and so very encouraging. He made being a part of those early growing years a joy.”

During his last days, Stanley desired to have a scholarship established to give back to the East Hardy students he adored.  A Hardy County bus driver for 31 years, Stanley enjoyed mentoring and building relationships with the students that rode his bus, and he wanted to ensure that part of his legacy would be to help students financially achieve their college goals.

After his death, his wife Naomi, community members, and friends held annual fundraisers to carry on Stanley’s legacy through the Stanley Moyer Scholarship Fund. Naomi continued to award the scholarship until her passing in January 2021. She, too, wanted their memories and legacies to live on through the community and this scholarship.

Since Naomi’s passing, the scholarship was renamed the Stanley and Naomi Moyer Scholarship, and was recently transferred to the Hardy County Community Foundation.

“It certainly feels like a natural transition to continue the scholarship through the Hardy County Community Foundation, an organization Stanley helped establish and lead through its earliest years of growth,” said Pancake.  “It has come full circle, and is where it belongs.”

The community foundation 2023-24 scholarship application will open in December. High School seniors and their parents can check the application status by following the Hardy County Community Foundation on Facebook, or by checking the website for updates: https://www.ewvcf.org/grants-scholarships/