Loss of Parent Prompts New Scholarship for Georgia Gwinnett Students

To assist students whose loss of a parent has affected their ability to attend college, Greg and Tammy Shumate have established an annual scholarship fund at .  This charitable donation is being done to honor Shumate’s mother, the late Linda Shumate.

 “The GGC Foundation is humbled by the Shumate family’s commitment to remembering Linda through this scholarship,” Gordon Harrison, president of the Georgia Gwinnett College Foundation, said in a news release. “The preferred criteria recognize the profound impact that the loss of a parent can have on a child’s future.”

The Linda Shumate Fund will provide a minimum of $10,000 each year as scholarship funding to full-time students in financial need, with a minimum 2.7 cumulative GGC grade point average.  Students who have lost a parent before the age of 8 will receive preference. Scholarship recipients are eligible for renewal up to four years.

“I lost my mother when I was 6 years old. I was ‘adopted’ by Gwinnett County aunts, uncles, grandparents, neighbors and teachers,” said Greg Shumate. “Our family has been blessed by living in Gwinnett, and we wanted to extend the same support to those who have suffered a similar loss.”