ANDOVER — Darlene Akers of Andover admits she first became a board member of the Andover Educational Fund around 2009 simply because she was asked, but mostly she is a board member because she recognizes how much others can benefit from the fund, she said.
It took Akers 12 years to receive her bachelor’s degree in communication from the University of Southern Maine. “And if I had had the help from the educational fund, it would have been different; I wouldn’t have had to work full time and go (to school) part time,” she said.
The AEF was founded in 1955 and became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit at the start of 1984. Andover resident Sharon Hutchins, president of the organization before Akers became president of the board, is credited with bringing the fund back to life after almost 30 years of inactivity.
There are five board members from Andover: Akers, president of the board; Keith Smith, treasurer; Jennifer Merrill, secretary; Karen Thurston, scholarship coordinator; Scott Owings, webmaster; and Penny Percival, adult education coordinator.
The board manages four scholarships and an adult educational fund program; the latter is suspended until the organization reaches its financial goal with a base of $10,000 to reopen the program.
Scholarships available for Andover residents include the Charles A. Cutting Endowment Fund, a $5,000, four-year scholarship for students seeking financial assistance to attend school after their high school graduation.
Also available for Andover high school seniors is the $4,000 John and Eunice Fox scholarship, awarded to students seeking financial assistance to attend college; the Anna Thurston Memorial Scholarship, an award for high school seniors; and the Sweatt Family Memorial Scholarship, which favors students who are going on to technical colleges.
The AEF has the potential to offer funds to around seven Andover students each year, depending on how many students graduate from sending schools Telstar High School in Bethel, Mountain Valley High School in Rumford or other schools the community’s students attend, such as Gould Academy in Bethel, Akers said.
“It’s been a really good thing for the town,” Akers said, and now that they have their AEF website set up with information about the organization and the ability to accept online donations through the site, the organization hopes to receive more attention and donations.
Andover resident Dillan Smith received a scholarship in 2023-24 from the Andover Educational Fund which helped him pursue a sports management degree at Cairn University in Pennsylvania. “They have removed most of the financial worry, allowing me to focus on my education and my future,” Smith said in a message on the non-profit organization’s website. Submitted photo
