The SMA Healthcare Foundation (the Foundation) is pleased to announce the Fall 2023 award recipients of the Larry & Joan Kelly Scholarships, both for Daytona State College Students and SMA Team Members.
Karen Elizabeth Hughes was awarded the $1,500 Daytona State College award. Karen is pursuing her dream of obtaining her nursing degree while also working in the medical field and returned to school after nearly 40 years in 2022. Since starting on this path she has already earned 44 credits and is maintaining a 4.0 GPA. She shared “I’m so very grateful to the SMA Healthcare Foundation for helping to make my nursing dream come true.”
Daytona State College students Cynthia Sluka and Douglas Midgette were also each awarded $750 by the Kelly Scholarship Committee.
Committee members noted that all of these recipients included in their applications a dedication to being active in their communities and helping those in need.
Each year a scholarship is also dedicated to a SMA Team Member. With so many quality applicants, the committee was unable to choose just one so made the decision to award both a $1,500 and a $1,000 scholarship.
The $1,500 Kelly Scholarship goes to Kirsten Crouch, a LPN in SMA’s Daytona Med Outpatient Clinic, who is pursuing her RN. This is the second year that Kirsten was awarded based on receiving extremely high recommendations from her supervisor and co-workers, as well as her Associate Professor at Daytona State College. Kirsten shared “I am privileged and honored to have received the Kelly scholarship award twice. This award has reduced financial burden and allowed for more focus on my studies. This scholarship provides me an opportunity to achieve my goals as an RN while reducing the stress of financial hardship, as I also am the sole provider for my family.”
$1,000 goes to Kaitlyn Baker, a Care Coordination Specialist in SMA’s Adult Case Management Program located in Ocala. Kaitlyn is pursuing her Bachelors of Social Work through Walden University.
The Larry and Joan Kelly Scholarship Fund was established in 2019 to support local students pursuing a degree in healthcare. “The Foundation has received tremendous support of the Kelly Scholarship Fund since it was created” said Jennifer Secor, Executive Director of the SMA Healthcare Foundation “and as a result we are in the process of working with additional colleges and universities to expand the impact the fund can have in our communities and the healthcare field.”