The 2017 scholarships from the Peter Lewchko Fund with Battlefords and District Community Foundation (BDCF) were announced recently. Michael Bjerkness of North Battleford and Keisha Senum of Spiritwood will each receive $3,500 to help with their post-secondary school expenses.
Bjerkness is taking year two of a power engineering course at Lakeland College in Lloydminster. Senum will be entering her first year of the College of Agriculture and Bioresources at the University of Saskatchewan.
Peter Lewochko’s profession was farming but he was a life-long learner with a range of hobbies. He was born in Poland and came to Battleford with his homesteading parents. He enjoyed gardening, birdwatching and fishing until his death in 2013. He established this scholarship as a legacy to his belief in the value of education. BDCF invests donations and provides grants from annual income on the fund.
Community foundations across Canada create endowment funds that will provide annual income to meet needs in the community. Battlefords and District Community Foundation currently holds 22 funds that contribute to a range of interests from the arts and health care to post-secondary scholarships and recreation. BDCF distributed over $35,000 in community grants and scholarships last year. The foundation website at www.bdcf.ca has complete information.
