by June Portnoy
If you have children, you know how important it is for them to become involved in extracurricular activities whether it’s joining a tennis team, taking clarinet lessons, or participating in martial arts, just to name a few of the endless opportunities available to them.
However, these activities are typically expensive and if you’re already struggling to pay your monthly bills, the last thing you can afford is to pay for your child to take a dance class or enroll in little league.
Fortunately, for just this reason, Gene and Michele Rice, from Bucks County, co-founded Plant a Seed, Inspire a Dream Foundation in 2008. This non-profit organization, headquartered in Yardley, provides annual scholarships for children ages 10 to 18 from low-income families to pursue passions and interests outside of School.
As part of their mission to inspire and empower young people, Gene and Michele Rice are proud to announce two $5,000 scholarships that will be awarded to deserving Bucks County high school seniors from the class of 2025 who will be graduating next year. Scholarships will be awarded December 31, 2024, and can be used immediately.
In order to qualify, these students must write an essay (in about 500 words or less) about what they are passionate about and why continuing their education (college, beauty school, technical school, etc.) will help them cultivate these passions. They can submit these essays on plantaseedfoundation.org or email them to michele@plantaseed.org.
Gene and Michele, who now have four grown children, saw firsthand how their kids benefitted by participating in activities, like soccer, outside of school. “Pursuing their interests helped our children develop a social network of kids who shared their same interest, improved their self-esteem, and exposed them to great role models,” described Gene. “These activities were often their ray of sunshine on a cloudy day.”
It’s therefore important to this local couple that children in families affected by financial hardships be given the same chances as their own kids to explore their interests and reap the rewards of these experiences.
Their nonprofit recently awarded their 839th scholarship. Although many of their scholarship recipients have been from Philadelphia, Trenton, and beyond, more than half of them have been from Bucks County.
“We have been awarding scholarships for so long that we know which local mentors will do the best job with these kids,” explained Gene who added that since this charity is self-funded with limited funds, we are grateful that many of the businesses we partner with, believe strongly in our mission and generously reduce their fees for Plant a Seed. As a result, Plant a Seed is able to offer more scholarships. There are currently 47 scholarship recipients engaged in different activities each week, and these scholarships are renewable.
Some of these kids have demonstrated such great aptitude in these activities they have earned high school scholarships in their areas of interest.
Gene and Michele make a point to know each family. They meet with every child and parent/caregiver and follow up with each scholarship recipient on a monthly basis to see how they are progressing. They want to be personally involved, getting to know each of these young people.
Gene added, “We want families in need to know there is a resource for their children who want to explore their interests, and that a lack of funds does not need to prevent their children from living out their dreams.”
For more information about Plant a Seed, Inspire a Dream Foundation, visit their website at plantaseedfoundation.org.