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Franklin Baptist Church recently awarded its annual scholarships, continuing a unique ministry that has had a remarkable impact over the last 20 years.

The Franklin Baptist Church Scholarship Fund was established in 2005 and since then has allowed for the presentation of 159 scholarships to members of the church. The scholarships have had a combined value of more than $280,500.

Church member Eliza Rainey provided a brief history related to the fund, highlighting how it came to be.

She noted that in 1983, the R.H. Powell Jr. Scholarship and the Jane Broaddus Folsom Scholarship were established, from which two scholarships each year were awarded to high school seniors seeking college educations. 

In 2005, the Robert C. Howell Scholarship was set up in Howell’s memory by his nephews and niece to assist church members of any age who wished to continue their education, Rainey stated.

“The church endowment committee combined the separate funds, adding additional monies to establish the Franklin Baptist Church Scholarship Fund,” Rainey said. “Initially, the fund was valued at a quarter of a million dollars but, through prudent investments, has increased to in excess of a half million dollars.”

Qualls noted that the fund yields by a spending formula.

“We have a formula where we reinvest a portion of the proceeds, and that’s why it keeps growing,” he said. “Our endowments are still open to members of the church, who occasionally do make contributions. Most of the growth, though, is market performance year over year.”

He explained that the money is managed by a committee at the church.

“Now obviously we use brokerage houses to do the actual investing, so we have one nationally known brokerage house that oversees the scholarship portion of our endowment,” he said. “But the decisions of that are made by the endowment committee in conjunction with our investment broker.”

He said, “They’ve managed these monies very carefully, and every year, despite awarding money out of there, the fund overall continues to grow because of how it’s being managed.”

Qualls stated that anywhere from $19,000 to about $21,000 in scholarships are awarded every year.

This year, there were four scholarship recipients, all of whom are undergraduate or graduate students in college. Each student received $5,000.

Rainey noted that a solid academic record is required of student applicants.  

She stated that this year’s recipients included the following:

• Kayla Felts, who is a senior at Virginia Tech, majoring in human nutrition, foods and exercise, while minoring in public health communications;
• Abby Pearce, who is a senior at the University of Virginia, majoring in biology on a pre-physician assistant track;
• Ashlynn Pearce, who is pursuing a doctorate in occupational therapy at Mary Baldwin University; and 
• Madison Suiter, who is pursuing a Master of Social Work degree at North Carolina State University.

Of the Franklin Baptist Church Scholarship Fund, Qualls said, “Accumulatively, this is now a nearly 20-year legacy of investing in our next generations. These scholarships have helped member families with both traditional college degrees as well as adults who are either advancing their career credentials or changing lines of work. Scholarships are awarded historically only to members of the church. As a matter of integrity, this is no reason alone to join a church. However, I do believe it is a beautiful example of the kingdom work of helping to further the gifts and talents of those who are preparing. 

“I am proud to serve a church that has had not only the means but also the vision to provide in this way,” he said.