VGCC Student Receives National Coca-Cola Scholarship
Kathy Judd Wolford of Oxford, a student at Vance-Granville Community College, has been awarded a $1,000 scholarship by the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation.
Wolford is one of 400 students nationwide who received scholarships this year through the Coca-Cola Two-Year Colleges Scholarship Program. All recipients were chosen for their academic success and for their participation in community service within the past year.
Wolford is beginning her second year as a student in VGCC’s Web Technologies program, having first enrolled in August 2006. Wolford was inducted into Phi Theta Kappa, the international honor society of two-year colleges, in April. She also made the VGCC Dean’s List this spring and has been awarded a VGCC Academic Achievement scholarship.
She has put her education to good use by volunteering numerous hours of her time on website and multimedia projects for the Greater Franklin County Chamber of Commerce and for the Oxford Police Department. “I have found the volunteer projects to be both challenging and fulfilling, because I felt they were important enough to warrant my best effort,” Wolford said. Her police department projects have included community involvement in gang violence prevention, an annual report on local crime statistics, graphics for a commendation ceremony, and a college-level presentation on law enforcement ethics. In the coming months, Wolford will be involved in updating the police department’s website.
She also helps with the website of her church, Oxford United Methodist Church. Upon graduation, Wolford plans to start a web design business, specializing in services to local government and non-profit organizations.
Kathy and her husband, Oxford Chief of Police John Wolford, have three grown sons and six grandchildren. She is the former editor of the Oxford Public Ledger.
The Coca-Cola Two-Year Colleges Scholarship Program, made possible with funding from the foundation of the late Joseph B. Whitehead, one of the original bottlers of Coca-Cola, gives support and encouragement to an under-served population of college students, according to J. Mark Davis, President of the Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. “This program is an extension of our long-standing commitment to college education throughout the United States,” Davis said. “These fine students, who often juggle school, work and family, continue to give back to their communities through volunteer service.”
The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation is supported by the financial commitment of local bottling companies and The Coca-Cola Company. The Foundation was created in 1986 to commemorate the 100thanniversary of Coca-Cola and to establish a legacy for the education of tomorrow’s leaders. The Foundation has provided $3.25 million in scholarship awards to students attending two-year degree-granting institutions over the last 8 years, and more than $32 million towards to the Coca-Cola Scholars Program during the past 18 years. The Coca-Cola Scholars Program awards more than $3 million annually in college scholarships to 250 outstanding high school seniors.
