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The Cairo Alumni Scholarship Fund

Across West Virginia, small town residents are challenged with sustaining their community. Aging residents, struggling economies, and population losses result in declining school enrollment. Closing a local school tears a community's fabric, leaving a hole seemingly impossible to mend. As institutions where people see their own future — their children — grow and thrive, schools generate local pride. When they are lost, some communities rebuild, while others seethe with resentment for years. Cairo Residents and Alumni Association meeting

Cairo Residents and Alumni Association meeting

The town of Cairo in Ritchie County faced such a loss, struggling with a feeling of identity theft as its small high school was closed and students redistributed. Residents could have become introspective and bitter; instead, like an oyster suffering a grain of sand, they began to form something precious. Citizens were motivated to voluntarily craft a community pearl. They reactivated the Cairo High School Alumni Association (CHSAA), initiating an important — and landmark — volunteer effort to build an endowed grantmaking fund that would preserve Cairo High School's name, and pride forever by providing scholarships for area students.

It would be challenging. Cairo is neither wealthy nor populous. In 1994, organizers of the Cairo High School 50 Year Class Reunion shared the idea and, the next year, began work. Records indicated that the former CHSAA was inactive for many years. Building a grantmaking fund that would provide scholarships for local children provided inspiration to reactivate. CHSAA met, elected officers, established a constitution and bylaws, and distributed public notices, generating community support and resources. A core group of former alumni were recruited as volunteers. More than 700 alumni nationwide received letters about the vision.

What began as a dream generated strong attendance at 13 meetings that first year, with hours of post-meeting assignments and expenses contributed voluntarily. Motivated by the community spirit intrinsic to West Virginia, alumni willingly returned something of value to their hometown.

CHSAA's grantmaking fund represents a collection of many gifts over seven years, from $1 donations to quilt raffles to memorials contributions. With $14,250 in scholarships awarded to 11 students to date and a perpetual endowment of $90,285 now raised, CHSAA's volunteerism exemplifies a community that has rebounded from adversity to build a legacy for future generations.

Plan Your Personal Giving | Why Give to a Community Foundation
Find Your Local Community Foundation | For Professional Advisors
Create a WV Nonprofit | Information for Grant Seekers
West Virginia Statistics | Grantmakers Membership Forum