Westbrook, CT - The Westbrook Foundation is creating new scholarship opportunities for residents who are seeking financial assistance for studies beyond college or high school in approved institutions.

“The funds for this new outreach into the Westbrook community comes as a gift from the Messerschmidt family, lifelong residents of our town, who have left $237,000 to the Foundation for us to use to improve the quality of life for our residents and our organizations,” says John Hall, Foundation chairman. “We are calling this approach to aiding residents who seek these avenues of post secondary education as the Messerschmidt Scholarships. “

All Messerschmidt Scholarships will be awarded for a maximum of one year for full-time or part time post-secondary students. Annual applications will be required for future year’s expenses. Part-time secondary studies applicants will receive scholarship grants for one or two semesters, depending upon their requests.

An applicant must be a resident of Westbrook on the date of the application. Voter records and tax returns may be required to prove residency, in addition to the signed affidavit contained in the application. The applicant must also be a legal dependent of his/her parents who are Westbrook residents, and must provide reasoning for not living in Westbrook, if that is the case.

Essays are mandatory and are needed for committee members to make reasonable assessments of applicants for whom they have no personal knowledge. The content that Foundation members will want to see in essays for Messerschmidt funds will be spelled out in the cover-letter of instructions for completing the application.

Applicants who have not attended an educational institution in the past three years before applying for a Messerschmidt scholarship must include two letters of recommendation from sources whose personal knowledge would enable them to attest to the applicant’s potential to be successful in the pursuit of either a degree or certification.

“We believe that the Messerschmidt family would approve the manner in which we will use their funds left in our care, “ states Hall, “ because we are expanding our reach to help as many residents as possible”.