(Dan Kaferle, Pam Caruso, John Zaremba, Susan Reed, William Wallace, Marty Laughrey, Bhavna Patel, Nancy Broaddus, and Udo Koopman)

Our Story

The SFSF program had its genesis when a Governors Club employee described in a casual conversation the challenges of pursuing and financing a college degree while working full time.  This type of perseverance and accomplishment in any individual is laudable and led to an idea that members of the club should help and encourage committed employees and their children to further their education.  A proposal was made in October of 2018 to the Board of Directors of GC to form an independent organization to provide scholarship funds with the intent of supporting a broad spectrum of education opportunities from vocational training, high school equivalency certification, English as a second language to college courses leading to a degree.  This opportunity would provide these employees with a “Step Forward” in meeting their education and career aspirations. The GC board endorsed our approach and encouraged us to move ahead.  In the Spring of 2019, SFSF formed its Board of Directors, incorporated in NC and was granted not-for-profit status by the IRS.  Due to the economic hardships brought on by Covid-19 and the generosity of GC members, in 2020 the maximum grant was increased from $3,000 to $4,000 per year. In early 2021 the SFSF increased the maximum again from $4000 to $5000, and in 2022 to $6000. In addition, the organization plans to award one annual $10,000 scholarship named the Governors Scholarship. Since its establishment, the SFSF has awarded 55 scholarships totaling more than $263,000.  A total of 28 awards have gone to employees and 27 to children of employees.  The SFSF expects applications, recipients and average awards to increase in the coming years and to expand the scope of its programs. In early 2020, the SFSF established a mentoring program to provide career and education counseling to current and future applicants and recipients. In 2022, the organization began to cover the costs of application and test fees, housing deposits and initiated a program to provide financial support for recipients who take non-paying or low-paying internships.  Our long-term goal is to significantly increase the number of members contributing to this program, and to assure that this opportunity will continue to be available to our outstanding employees and their children in the years to come.

Our Board of Directors

Bill Wallace          - President
John Zaremba     - Vice President
Udo Koopmann   - Treasurer
Pam Caruso        - Secretary
Marty Laughrey   - Director
Dan Kaferle         - Director
​Susan Reed        - Director
Nancy Broaddus - Director
Bhavna Patel      - Director

Committees
Nominating and Governance - Pam Caruso Chair, Dan Kaferle, John Zaremba Members
​Marketing and Communications - Dan Kaferle Chair, Keith Peterson, Nancy Broaddus Members
Scholarship - John Zaremba Chair, Jim LoFrese, Ellen Peirce, Carol Smithwick, Richard Andre Members
Fundraising - Nancy Broaddus Chair, Bhavna Patel Member
​Mentoring - Marty Laughrey Chair, Ellen Brown, Marc Ingelbinck, Annie Shimp, Keith Peterson, JJ Nelson Members
​Events - Susan Reed Chair

Other Critical Volunteers
Barbara Bourn - Website design and Maintenance
​Peter Pront - Legal and Tax guidance
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