Green Family Foundation, Firstrust Bank Award $360,000 to 18 High School Seniors
For 55 years, the Green Family Foundation and Firstrust Bank have provided a pathway to achieving higher education for civic-minded high school seniors in the Greater Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley regions through the Samuel A. Green Scholarship Program.
During a recent celebration at the Firstrust Bank Club at the Philadelphia Eagles stadium, the Green Family Foundation and Firstrust Bank awarded $360,000 to 18 college-bound students.
The Samuel A. Green Scholarship Program, one of the region’s most renowned high school scholarship programs, granted each winning student a $20,000 scholarship, to be evenly distributed over the course of four years, to seniors who crafted personal essays about how they will apply their education to impact their communities.
“When I think about the number of young adults we’ve supported through the Samuel A. Green Scholarship Program, more than 1,000 students, I am amazed by the impact and honored to uphold the legacy of my grandfather and Firstrust’s founder, Samuel A. Green,” said Richard J. Green, Executive Chairman of Firstrust Bank’s Board of Directors and Trustee of the Green Family Foundation.
Samuel A. Green believed in the importance of receiving a college education and using it to give back to the community. These values have served as core pillars for the bank for 90 years and the foundation since its inception in 2005. The Samuel A. Green Scholarship Program honors young people in the region who reflect these principles.
“At the Green Family Foundation and Firstrust, we want to help remove barriers for our region’s bright young minds to pursue higher education, so they can become catalysts for positive change in our communities,” said Green. “That’s why we’ve decided to provide $20,000 scholarships for students over the course of four years rather than just during their first year. We are proud to continue my grandfather’s legacy through this scholarship program for the past 55 years. In just the past four years alone, we’ve awarded more than $1 million in scholarships.”
Recipients were selected based on their written responses to a topic that is rooted in the mission of the foundation — “How will you use your college education to make a substantial impact in your community?” — and a letter of recommendation attesting to their demonstrated leadership. Nearly 440 students applied for the scholarships this year.
The 2024 cohort of Samuel A. Green Scholars is comprised of the following students:
Bucks County
Chester County
- Sophia Fontecchio, Downingtown STEM Academy
- Vamsi Krishna Nandamuri, Downingtown STEM Academy
- Foram Shah, B. Reed Henderson High School
- Mackenzie Duffy, Villa Maria Academy High School
Delaware County
Montgomery County
- Zachary Hunter, Upper Dublin High School
- Tarun Iyengar, North Penn High School
- Marta Neidich, Jenkintown High School
- Katherine Smith, The Baldwin School
- Lucas Philip, Germantown Academy
Philadelphia
- Justin Cheeseman, Father Judge High School
- Hser Nay Christ, Academy at Palumbo
- Elda Sinaj, Northeast High School
- Nathalia Sosa, Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School
New Castle County, Del.
In addition to their scholarships, each student was presented a “swag bag,” which included a sweatshirt from the college or university they will be attending and a poster version of their winning essay.
Learn more about Firstrust Bank and its history of giving back to the community.
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