The Susanna and Lucy DeLaurentis Charitable Foundation Memorial Scholarships

Criteria

The Susanna and Lucy DeLaurentis Memorial Scholarships are awarded each year to college-bound high school seniors with superior academic and extracurricular achievements who contend with a chronic disease or other serious challenge to physical or mental health. Honorees are selected by an independent committee of evaluators, and are announced in May, allowing time for presentation at awards ceremonies if appropriate.

Award

The scholarship is a $1,000 award, paid directly to the honoree’s institution of higher learning.

Application

Applications must be received by the third Friday in April. Awards will be announced during the first week of May. An application form accompanies this notice. Applicants must submit a brief statement of their health condition, how they have managed to excel notwithstanding the condition, and their plans for advanced education after high school. As much information as possible about the applicant’s academic standing and achievements—including GPA, standardized test scores, and class standing—and about the applicant’s participation in extracurricular or community activities should be submitted with the applicant’s statement, along with at least one letter of recommendation from a member of the faculty or administration familiar with the applicant and his or her condition. Email submission is preferred; send to michaeljad@gmail.com. Mailed submissions should be sent to SDCF, 7616 Mountain Avenue, Elkins Park, PA 19027. Applications should include all information, formatted as provided in the instructions.

The Scholarship Program

The Lucy and Susanna DeLaurentis Memorial Scholarships are awarded in memory of Susanna DeLaurentis, who died of cancer at age 10 after spending half her life in cutting-edge experimental treatments, and her older sister Lucy, who died on her 29th birthday from complications of cystic fibrosis. Though Susanna missed one entire academic year and large chunks of her other three school years, she kept pace with her classmates by working diligently with tutors while recovering from her treatments. Her spunk, generosity, selfless compassion for the needs of others notwithstanding her own dire condition, and her constant good cheer inspired her former teachers to establish a research and scholarship fund in honor of her courage, compassion, and commitment to learning. Lucy completed her college degree despite recurring hospitalizations and declining health, never letting her disease and prognosis dampen her spirit, despite the loss of her soulmate, Susanna. Scholarships are awarded to candidates who best exemplify Lucy’s and Susanna’s ironclad determination and quiet, upbeat fortitude in the face of extraordinary challenges.

Guidelines

This award is meant to call attention to high academic achievement and extracurricular and community involvement through persistence, courage, and determination while coping with a life-threatening or chronic physical or mental condition, including ongoing testing and recovery from treatments. The severity and length of history of a condition are factors entering into the evaluation of a candidate’s academic and extracurricular accomplishments. Because of the nature of their impediments, some candidates compile resumes of the highest caliber, applying any standard. Others, however, may have conditions that impair cognitive function or entail long absences and necessarily impact academic and extracurricular performance. Evaluations of candidates in this category are helped tremendously by detailed personal statements of the candidates and insightful recommendations of teachers and support staff. The selection committee makes every effort to weigh accomplishments against impediments in reaching its decisions.

The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) public charity. The official registration and financial information of the Susanna and Lucy DeLaurentis Charitable Foundation may be obtained from the Pennsylvania Department of State by calling 1(800)732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement. www.thesusannafoundation.org.