The University of South Alabama has received a $125,000 gift from the Rotary Club of Mobile-Sunrise to provide scholarships for incoming students and patient and family resources for the Mitchell Cancer Institute (MCI).

“The Mobile-Sunrise Club has conducted local service and fundraising projects for the past 25 years,” said Club President Edward Dismukes. “This year we decided to further support our local community through gifts to USA that provide area students the opportunity for a college education and hope for healing for current and future cancer patients. We chose USA because of the positive and broad educational and health benefits the institution provides our local community.”

A portion of the gift, $50,000, will fund the Rotary Club of Mobile-Sunrise Scholarship Endowment Fund which qualifies for a USA scholarship match, making it a $100,000 scholarship. The funds off the endowment will be used to award scholarships to incoming freshmen. 

In order to be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• Have a GPA of 3.0 or higher and ACT score of 24 or above
• Reside within one of the counties within the Rotary International District 6880 which  include: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Dallas, Elmore, Escambia, Geneva, Greene, Hale, Henry, Houston, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pike, Russell, Sumter, Washington, and Wilcox Counties
• Demonstrate community service
• Must have participated in at least one of the following Rotary sponsored programs: A member of Rotary Interact Club and/or a participant in the Rotary Youth Leadership Award (RYLA) program

Children of Rotarians, including those of members of the Rotary Club of Mobile-Sunrise, may apply for and receive the scholarship if they meet the eligibility requirements.

The remaining $75,000 gift will establish a patient and family resource center for the Mitchell Cancer Institute.  Funds will be used to provide resources to patients and families such as educational DVDs, CDs and books to help them cope with a cancer diagnosis. The resource center is located in the main lobby of MCI, in front of the Window of Hope.

“The goal of the Rotary Club of Mobile-Sunrise is to support public service programs which embrace one or more of the tenants of the Rotary Four-Way Test.  The creation of these two important endowment funds is grounded in one of these tenants, ‘is it beneficial for all concerned’.  These programs are truly beneficial to all concerned and will be of great value to students and those battling cancer forever” said Dr. Joseph Busta, Jr., vice president of  development and alumni relations at USA and a Rotary Club member.