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Community Foundation Receives a $1.7M Gift to Benefit Area Students

Community Foundation To Fund Ag Scholarships


ERIN FLYNN Daily News-Record
PUBLICATION: Daily News-Record (Harrisonburg, VA)

SECTION: Harrisonburg
DATE: October 4, 2016
HARRISONBURG — A couple’s love for agriculture is being passed on to future generations.
The Community Foundation of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County announced Thursday that it received a $1.7 million gift from the estate of Thelma Phillips. The gift will be used to create up to 11 scholarships for Valley students interested in pursuing careers in agriculture. It also preserves the legacy of the late Thelma and Bill Phillips.
For nearly 30 years, Bill and Thelma “Curly” Phillips of New Market rose before dawn to milk the cows, harvest vegetables and work their 285 acres in Shenandoah County. Bill Phillips was known for his willingness to help others. “He was the kind of person that, when it snowed, he was always out,” said Chuck Mathias, a friend of the couple. “He would open up our driveway and other people’s driveways.” And Thelma Phillips could often be found in the kitchen making treats.In addition to their generosity, the Phillipses are remembered for their love of farming. “They were just hardworking, good people,” Mathias said.
Thelma Phillips would help her husband in any way possible, whether making meals for the farm hand or drive Bill Phillips around on Sundays so he could see check in on other farms. “Their whole life was around farming, and anything she could do to assist him, she enjoyed doing,” said Revlan Hill, The Community Foundation‘s executive director.
In 1980, Bill Phillips died from a heart attack. Twenty-three years later, his wife established a fund at The Community Foundation to honor him. The foundation acts as a conduit between donors and charitable groups by managing property and money. In 2015, Thelma Phillips died at 86 years old.
Memory Lives On
The couple’s interest in agriculture isn’t being forgotten, however. In fact, their legacy could spark interest in future farmers. Through the scholarship fund, The Community Foundation will award $1,500 scholarships to seniors at Broadway, Harrisonburg and Stonewall Jackson high schools. “She always wanted to do a scholarship for those schools,” Hill said. “Her love for the area, her love for students, her love for farming — that’s what she wanted to support.
“Students can renew the scholarships every year for four years, said Ann Siciliano, the foundation‘s director of program services. Offering a renewable scholarship, Siciliano said, could encourage students who might not be interested in a career in agriculture to reconsider the field.Siciliano said students interested in applying for the scholarship must submit an online application, information about their involvement in agriculture, and a transcript. Applicants will be interviewed. A link to the application can be found on The Community Foundation‘s website, https://www.tcfhr.org/ and must be completed by March 30, Siciliano said. The foundation will present the scholarships to the recipients during each high school’s spring ceremony.
Contact Erin Flynn at 574-6293 or [email protected]