Ahead of Thanksgiving dinner, Mozel Sanders Foundation honors 9 with scholarships
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — WISH-TV is a proud partner of the Mozel Sanders Foundation, which focuses on uplifting the community.
That includes encouraging young leaders through scholarships ahead of its annual Thanksgiving dinner to help feed the hungry.
One by one on Wednesday, high school and middle school students from across Indianapolis got an opportunity of a lifetime.
The nonprofit foundation, in partnership with Financial Center First Credit Union, on Wednesday honored nine lucky students through its Reverend Roosevelt Sanders Scholarships program. Thousands of dollars were handed out to help these students find success.
One recipient, Erinn Redmond, said of the scholarship, “It means a lot because I do a lot of service outside of this, so this foundation means a lot to me because they put in so much time and energy to feed the hungry and do stuff like that.”
Ma’Khi Leeper, a middle school student, said, “It’s important for me because I want to go to college after high school. I don’t know which college, but any college that accepts me.”
Dustry Simmons, executive vice president of strategic operations at the credit union, said, “We’re a credit union, and credit unions are all about people helping people and that is what we do at the heart of all the financial services that we offer it’s ensuring that people have the education they need whether that’s financial education or what they’re getting through their schools to go out and make a difference in the world that we all live in.”
“So, thankful for what Mozel Sanders Foundation does in our community and the partnership we have with WISH to do that, and that’s going to continue for years to come,” Simmons said.
Stephen Sanders, chief executive offcer of the foundation, says the scholarship program honors the legacies of his father, the Rev. Roosevelt Sanders, and his grandfather, the Rev. Mozel Sanders.
“When he passed, my father saw, ‘Hey, this is a way to build our legacy, this is a way to also help people,’ so it’s a big thing. It’s sustaining our family now and it’s sustaining the community of Indianapolis, so just having that vision. It’s up to me to keep that vision alive,” Sanders said.
He says it’s important to encourage each other. “It’s about empowering others, students that may not have been excelling. They’re showing improvement, and that’s what this scholarship is about. Not forgetting those that are showing improvement in school.”
The group also gives away groceries every second Thursday of each month at the Mount Vernon Community Missionary Baptist Church.