Casey Brown
Student Life Editor
@CaseyBrown_CU
Twenty-five CU Students across campus received $1000 scholarships from Stripes Scholarship Fund.
The Public Relations Director of Stripes Convenience Stores, Jessica Davila-Burnett, said the program was launched last year, and students who attend a school in a Stripes operating area are eligible to apply for the scholarship.
Davila-Burnett said the money for the scholarship fund comes from an in-store campaign.
“During the month of December, customers came in and were asked to purchase a $1 paper pin up,” Davlia-Burnett said. “We told our customers…that 100% of their donations would benefit the Stripes Scholarship Fund. The Stripes Scholarship Fund is set up, and we have a partnership with 20 schools and each of those schools receive funding from the total campaign where we collected the funds.”
She said the one-month campaign raised over $545,000.
Rebekah Pullicar, a sophomore psychology major, received a $1000 scholarship, and said she used the money to pay tuition and purchase books.
“I am trying to come to school debt free,” Pullicar said. “I have three children and three step-kids, so six kids total. Financially, I try to take care of them first, so I didn’t want to try and do any loans or anything like that because I figure I save up for them and then whatever I can work off – I’m a student worker for the President’s Office.”
Last year, she did not receive any scholarships, and this year, the risk of not receiving help may have paused her academic career.
“I was really excited to hear that I got scholarships this year because I was really teetering on having to get loans to pay for my school,” Pullicar said. “I just didn’t want to take anything from my kids, from their fund, from what we are trying to save from them.
“All of my money went towards my tuition, and I did have a little bit left over, and it went toward my books. Primarily, it went toward my tuition.”
Pullicar lost her husband in 2007, an experience she said taught her the importance of financial security.
“Being financially secure has always been a goal of mine,” Pullicar said. “My first husband passed away, so when he passed away, I really had to rely on myself. When you come from that type of perspective, you know it is hard to live off of loans, or pay off loans or have stuff held over your heads.
“I try to work as hard as I can here, and I thought that if do pretty good, maybe I can get a couple of scholarships, and I’m just really grateful.”
Stripes will be repeating the campaign again this year in December.
Davila-Burnett said Stripes employees and customers made last year’s campaign a success.
“It is because our employees, our team members are very passionate,” she said, “and our customers are very generous.
The Stripes Scholarship Fund members look forward to hear how students use their scholarships.
“We are hoping to form a relationship with the students,” Davila-Burnett said. “We would love to see how this scholarship has helped them because our customers want to hear those stories of how those scholarships have helped them get through college.”