On May 20, the Foundation celebrated with a first annual reception to honor scholarship recipients.  5 Bentley Village employees and 4 employee dependents received scholarships for the May 2017 award period.  Recipients from the first round (December 2016) of scholarship awards were also invited to attend.

Other invitees included special guests and family of the recipients.  Also at the reception were sponsors of “named” scholarships and other major contributors to the “Wings” Program as well as the Scholarship Committee, members of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Colleen Billings, HR Director at Vi and Sharon Bayata, Community Foundation of Collier County.  Penny Smith, Executive Director at Vi at Bentley Village, paid a welcome visit to extend her hearty congratulations to the awardees.  Light afternoon refreshments were served while donors and awardees mingled.

The brief program included remarks by Janys Foley, chair of the Scholarship Committee, who presented the award certificates to each 2017 recipient.  As awardees were introduced, they shared their personal goals and thoughts with the attendees.  Closing remarks were delivered by Walter Foley, who captured the rewarding aspects of the scholarship program for both the awardees and the donors.

With about 100 attending, everyone enjoyed the celebration.