The Road Forward Scholarship Fund's recent fund-raiser, Cabaret for a Cause at LTV Studios in Wainscott, was a resounding success with 150 people attending and $186,000 raised for scholarships.
The outcome surpassed last year's fund-raising total of $100,000.
"This year, due to the increased interest and generosity of our local community, we have awarded 14 scholarships at $11,000 each over four years," said Harold Zuckerman, media chairman of the event.
The sold-out crowd of Hamptons community supporters enjoyed food and drink donated in abundance by local restaurants, bakeries, and shops.
The Road Forward Scholarship Fund's mission, to boost local community college attendance among economically disadvantaged students, garnered exceptional enthusiasm. "We wanted every dollar possible to go directly to the students' college tuition," Jane Epstein, an event co-chair, said in a press release.
The goal of the organization over the past two years has been to assist students in leaving poverty behind through higher education, which will in turn allow them to help their families and local communities. According to U.S. News & World Report, 44 percent of graduating seniors in the Hampton Bays-to-Montauk region live in economically disadvantaged households. According to Vivian Shapiro, vice president of the organization, a primary cause of college dropout from graduating seniors on the East End is a lack of financial stability.
Sherri Lippman, board president of the Road Forward Scholarship Fund, said in a statement that the organization "is honored to be part of the East End community, and extends its enormous gratitude to all the givers who donated and attended Cabaret for a Cause, plus the over 120 local volunteers, restaurants, small business owners, talented artists, and local print/media outlets, each of whom have made four years of college possible for this year's 14 Road Forward scholarship recipients."
