Information provided by Caltrans District 5.
Caltrans District 5 and the California Transportation Foundation (CTF) are offering two $1,000 scholarships to high school seniors within the five-county district (Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties).
Applications must be submitted by April 30. The 2019 scholarships will be awarded this summer to high school seniors from the Central Coast.
For a link to the scholarship application, visit the site at: http://www.dot.ca.gov/d5/scholarship.htm
According to a recent press release, Caltrans District 5 employees initiated the scholarship program 17 years ago, which is entirely employee-funded through the proceeds of coffee and baked good sales in the district cafeteria. The scholarship program is designed for college-bound senior high school students who plan to pursue a career in transportation and live within the five counties of the district.
These programs are common in most of the 12 Caltrans districts and have the encouragement and support of the California Transportation Foundation which donates 25 percent of the funding with the coffee and food sales providing the rest, the press release said.
The scholarship program continues to flourish. When the program began in 2002, $500 was raised and one scholarship was awarded. In 2007, $3,500 was raised and seven $500 scholarships were awarded. The fundraising efforts have grown since then, and Caltrans is pleased to have awarded $4,750 in student scholarships since 2017, the press release said.
For additional information, contact Laurie Baima at Laurie.Baima@dot.ca.gov or call at (805) 549-3353.