High school seniors from the Greater Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley region were recognized this week by the Green Family Foundation and Firstrust Bank at the 53rd annual Samuel A. Green Scholarship program ceremony.

The high school scholarship program — one of the region’s most renowned — granted $180,000 in total to 29 students. Seven of them live in Montgomery County.

A first-place winner of a $10,000 scholarship was Christine Meng of Germantown Academy.

Third-place finishers, each receiving $5,000 toward continuing their educations, were:

• Ethan Duong, Renaissance Academy Charter School
• Alex Halbert, Plymouth Whitemarsh High School
• Mary “Molly” Jamison, Plymouth Whitemarsh High School
• Vanessa Morrison, Souderton Area High School
• Maddyn Shapiro, Plymouth Whitemarsh High School

The soon-to-be graduates wrote personal essays on their plans to leverage their ongoing educations for the betterment of their communities. These honorees’ responses distinguished themselves from a field of 500 entrants.

An additional requirement was a letter of recommendation that chronicled students’ demonstrated leadership abilities.

Richard J. Green, Chairman and CEO of Firstrust and Trustee of the Green Family Foundation, said: “My grandfather Samuel A. Green, Firstrust’s Founder, was a steadfast believer in the power of education. He was known for encouraging students to pursue their education and fulfill their dreams, and his legacy has built this tremendous scholarship program.

“We are fortunate to continue to grow the program each year to support the educational pursuits of more students in our community. This year, we thrilled to have awarded $180,000 in scholarships, which is the most we’ve given through the program in a single year.”

About The Green Family Foundation

The Green Family Foundation was established in 2005 by Samuel A. Green’s son and daughter-in-love, Daniel and Florence (“Flo”). Daniel was the Chairman and CEO of Firstrust Bank from 1970–2005 and Chairman Emeritus until his death in 2020. Richard J. Green, their son, serves as Trustee for the Foundation.

The Green Family Foundation is dedicated to cultivating and investing in innovative and impactful solutions that foster inclusive and interconnected communities so that individuals and communities flourish and reach their full potential.

About Firstrust Bank

Founded in 1934, with assets of nearly $5 billion, Firstrust Bank is the region’s largest family-owned financial institution, one of the region’s largest and strongest full-service commercial banks, and one of the most consistently top-performing banks in the Nation.

Founded by Samuel A. Green, who began the business in his mother’s kitchen in South Philadelphia, Firstrust is currently in its third generation of family ownership, operating as Philadelphia’s Hometown Bank for more than 87 years.

Firstrust offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and institutions. In commercial banking, Firstrust Bank provides a wide variety of solutions, including commercial real estate finance, business banking, asset-backed lending, and deposit and treasury management services. Firstrust Bank meets the need of its consumer customers by offering a full range of deposit, lending, and residential mortgage products.

Firstrust is a Small Business Administration (SBA) Preferred Lender, is a Top Workplaces employer, the Official Bank of the Philadelphia Eagles and serves its customers through 19 branch banking offices located in Southeastern Pa., Cherry Hill, N.J., and Towson, Md.

For more information, visit Firstrust online or call 800.220.BANK. Member FDIC.