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TOPSHAM — Two former Harpswell summer residents have set up two scholarships — one for a Maine School Administrative District 75 student and one for a teacher — through donations to the Trust for Our Future educational fund.
Roger M. Tarpy and Jean E. Roberts, who now live in Virginia, will donate $20,000 a year for up to five years to the already existing fund, which is an endowment designed to benefit students and teachers in the district, which includes Topsham, Harpsell, Bowdoin and Bowdoinham. Their donations will fund the Tarpy-Roberts Scholarship Fund with scholarships of up to $2,000 each awarded each year, beginning in June:
A graduating senior from Mount Ararat High School will be awarded the Tarpy-Roberts Scholar Award;
A member of the district’s faculty will be awarded the Tarpy-roberts Faculty Award, to fund professional enrichment or investments that would enhance efforts to provide “meaningful educational opportunities for students.”
Tarpy and Roberts said that they had been contributing to an educational foundation that awards scholarships to high school students in another community, and they realized the importance of support that had been provided to their own parents. Tarpy’s mother got financial help from a high school teacher, and Roberts’ father was helped by an uncle.
“These gifts were pivotal in allowing them to pursue further education,” the pair said. “They also opened up their eyes to entirely new worlds, allowing each of them to become educators, a path that the two of us have also followed. This model of supporting education locally, at an individual level, has become a strong and recurring goal in our own lives. We now wish to expand our contributions to Harpswell. We were lucky enough to spend some 23 summers in Harpswell, and came to know and love the area. We also discovered that its school system had already set up a fund that harmonized with our vision, and we were excited at the prospect of adding to their endeavors.”
Kopp noted, “In a time filled with challenges and requiring the Trust to cease fundraising activities, it was a complete surprise to be contacted by Mr. Tarpy and Ms. Roberts with an offer of such a generous gift benefitting our students and staff. The Trust quickly agreed that working with Mr. Tarpy and Ms. Roberts to make their vision a reality would be our priority for this school year.”
In the unexpected philanthropic proposal, Tarpy & Roberts cited their confidence in the local TFOF group to manage the financial investment to maximize the number and size of the annual awards. They also voiced approval for the group to set the criteria upon which the scholarship awards would be based.
Current TFOF President, Mara Pennell, shared that she hoped this gift would inspire others to consider similar donations as a type of planned giving that “invests in our students and teachers with a goal to strengthen our entire community.”
