By Tamara Botting
Special to the News

For the third year in a row, two area students had the financial burden of pursuing post-secondary education eased a bit with the presentation of the Glanbrook Community Scholarship.

Madison Salisbury and Allie Wark were this year’s recipients; each received $500.
Salisbury is attending Wilfrid Laurier University and studying kinesiology; Wark is doing a Brock University accounting co-op.

“I was surprised; there are a lot of residents in this area,” said Salisbury.  “It’s a good scholarship.”

“I was excited and really happy when I found out that I’d gotten it,” said Wark, who added, “University is very expensive, and every little bit helps.”

Both of the recipients expressed their thanks to Dr. Anthony Lombardi, owner of the Hamilton Back Clinic, who initiated the scholarship and oversees the vetting process of the applicants; the monies were presented Feb. 4.

“We had 12 applicants this year; that’s up from last year,” he said.  Each applicant must complete an essay that focuses on a different topic; this year, applicants were asked to discuss what small, local businesses could do to improve the sense of community, as well as stimulate the local economy.

“We had some great recommendations come in,” said Lombardi, noting that many of the applicants focused on helping the less fortunate and in particular, using social media, such as Facebook and Twitter to help in the process.

“It was our most competitive year to date,” he said.

Ward 11 councillor Brenda Johnson  helped present the scholarships.

“This (scholarship) is one of the hidden gems in our community,” said Johnson.  “Not too many people know about it yet.”

She thanked Lombardi for his contributions to the community through his business, noting that the clinic’s recent winter coat drive finished with 809 coats collected and distributed in the local community.

“It’s so nice to see a business that reaches out to its community,” she said.

Lombardi announced plans to introduce a similar scholarship for elementary students; it would be for Glanbrook and Stoney Creek residents going into high school.

“The purpose of this scholarship is that students realize the concept of strong effort producing rewards and the value of hard work,” said Lombardi.

Applications for the next Glanbrook Community Scholarship are available on the Hamilton Back Clinic’s Facebook page and at the clinic on Rymal Road; the funds for the scholarship are held in trust at the Scotiabank in Elfrida.