Adventureland’s nonprofit organization, The Helping Hands Foundation, selected ten Long Island High School seniors to receive the Tony Gentile Memorial Scholarship. Award recipients were selected out of nearly 100 applicants by the board of the Helping Hands Foundation. Each graduating High School senior received a $1,000 scholarship to be used towards their first semester at a Long Island college or university. Similar to the ideals of Tony Gentile, award winners were chosen based on their dedication and commitment to the Long Island community through school programs and community service.
In addition to the ten Tony Gentile Memorial Scholarship winners, a High School senior from the William Floyd School District was awarded a scholarship for $1,700 as a part of a partnership with Tangier Smith Elementary School. Students from Tangier Smith participated in the Dollars for Scholars program by donating $1 and walking around the track with their grade. The Helping Hands Foundation then matched the $850 the students raised and donated the funds back to the school district in the form of a scholarship for a senior attending a college or university on Long Island. Adventureland awarded the grade that raised the most money with complimentary P.O.P. bracelets.
On Sunday, June 11th, the winners were recognized by the Helping Hands Foundation and the family of Tony Gentile in a brief luncheon ceremony at Adventureland. The foundation was truly delighted to assist these young students on their journey to higher education, and we look forward to gifting many more scholarship dollars to Long Island students in the future.
For more information, please contact Caitlin DiSclafani at Caitlin@HelpingHandsLI.org