The Charlie Riley Community Service Scholarship Foundation awarded $26,000 in scholarships at its annual awards ceremony Nov. 12 at Level Volunteer Fire Company.
This year's awards brought the total scholarships to $190,000 over the past nine years to more than 180 recipients from Harford County students and Fire/EMS personnel.
The scholarship program honors the memory of the late Charles W. Riley, a 52-year member and chief of Abingdon Volunteer Fire Company and a member of the Harford-Cecil Volunteer Fireman's Association and Maryland State Fireman's Association Halls of Fame. He was also a past president of the Maryland State Fireman's Association and served under four different governors as chairman of the State's Training Commission.
Organizers of this year's banquet and awards ceremony said it was a great night to award scholarships honoring young men and women in the local community who have volunteered their services.
Twenty-two scholarships out of a possible 24 were presented, 12 to seniors from Harford County high schools and 10 to Harford County Fire and EMS volunteers.
The honorees have served their neighbors through community service, extracurricular activities and leadership. They are all "Doers of the Word," the foundation's motto.
The high school honorees, each receiving a $1,000 scholarship to be applied toward higher education, were: Nikiya Kirnon, Joppatowne High; Hannah Jones, Patterson Mill High; Mary Eisinger, North Harford High; Amanda St. Cyr, C. Milton Wright High; Emily Scanlon, Harford Technical High; Julia Rose, Fallston High; Tatiana Lazzeri, The John Carroll School; Joseph Caudill, Bel Air High; Alisha Winder, Edgewood High; Natalie Purdy, Harford Christian School; and Peter Sheu, Aberdeen High.
The grand prize award winner, who received an additional $2,000 scholarship, was Emilee Bubb from Havre de Grace High School.
The fire and EMS honorees, each receiving $1,000 scholarship to be applied toward higher education were: Kenneth Sanner Jr., Fallston; Heather Ely, Level; Alyssa Dietrich, Norrisville; Megan Budnick, Aberdeen; Michael Nelson, Darlington; Gabrielle Kerby, Jarrettsville; Nicole Lentz, Abingdon; Ginger Eisenhardt, Bel Air; and Sabrina Wainwright, Joppa-Magnolia.
The grand prize award winner, who received an additional $2,000 scholarship, was Kelsi Ludwigsen, from Susquehanna Hose Company in Havre de Grace.