[ April 13, 2022 ] Summer Satterfield of Pickens County, GA has been awarded the $1,000 Hope After Grief Scholarship out of all applicants in the state of Georgia.

Summer's father died from pancreatic cancer when Summer was in middle school. The time he was in Hospice weighed heavily on her, as she watched him get sicker, and she misses watching horror movies and celebrating birthdays with him. She is one of five kids and wants to become a physician's assistant. She has worked tirelessly toward this goal and wishes her father could see how far she has come. Summer will attend Mercer University and take steps toward her goals and continuing to make her father proud.

The award goes to one high school senior in South Carolina and one in Georgia who have had a parent or sibling die. The student must go to a post high school higher education program to receive the scholarship. This can be a technical college or four-year university.

The scholarship was created through Hope After Grief, Inc. by Sydney Ford, who lost her dad at age 10. Sydney realized when going to college that there were no scholarships available specifically for grieving youth. Most grieving families are working from either a single parent income or have spent a lot of their funds on funeral costs and expenses. In addition, some families have to cover hospital costs. This scholarship will help alleviate the financial burden on two grieving families.

More information can be found at hopeaftergrief.org or @hopeaftergrief on Instagram and Facebook.