Scholarship Fund

Scholarship Information

The Ellison McCraney Ingram Foundation, Inc. (EMIF) has established a scholarship program intended to assist graduating high school seniors, or recent (within one year) graduates who plan to enroll full-time at an accredited college or university or vocational institution, and who have been the beneficiary of services provided by charities which have actively participated in the Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation (DCWAF) charities.

Up to five (5) Foundation Scholarships will be awarded for up to $10,000 per year for up to four (4) years to cover college or vocational expenses related to tuition, books, fees, and room & board. This selection process is based on financial need, academic achievement, leadership, personal character and community service.

EMIF intends to award scholarships up to Forty Thousand Dollars over four years ($10,000 per year) dependent on successful completion of the previous school year (a minimum of 12 semester hours or equivalent) with a minimum GPA of 3.0. The scholarship award is dependent on successful completion of the previous year with a minimum GPA of 3.0.

Completed applications must be filed with EMIF on or before December 1st of any given year.

Scholarship Information Packet includes the following attachments: (5)

  1. Application Guidelines
  2. Applicant Information Form
  3. Counselor’s Student Information Form
  4. Transcript Release Form
  5. Financial Need Sheet

Application Guidelines

Eligibility

Applicants Must:

  1. Be a senior at an accredited high school or a recent (within one year) and be a beneficiary of any of the DCWAF charities.  Please state which charity you benefited from. See list of DCWAF Charities here >>
  2. Have made an application to a college or university for higher learning or a vocational technical school.
  3. Must be enrolled as a full-time student.

Selection Procedure

Recipient will be scored based on: 

  • Financial Need 
  • Academic Achievement
  • Educational Data, Ranking, and Test Scores
  • Extracurricular Activities Leadership Abilities
  • Written Essay (200-word)

How To Apply

Student:

Counselor:

  • Complete Counselor’s Student Information Form.
  • Provide Student’s Transcripts and Student Information Forms for the EMIF Scholarship Committee to the student applicant before December 1st of any given year.

Scholarship Guidelines

As part of its mission to serve its community, Ellison McCraney Ingram Foundation, Inc. (EMIF) has established a scholarship fund to provide support for eligible students who are pursuing an undergraduate collegiate degree or vocational / technical school certificate. 

Eligible candidates are students who are graduating seniors or recent graduates (within one year) during the scholarship application year and who are beneficiaries of any of the Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation (DCWAF) charities. See list of DCWAF Charities here >>

EMIF intends to award scholarships up to Forty Thousand Dollars over four years ($10,000 per year) dependent on successful completion of the previous school year (a minimum of 12 semester hours or equivalent) with a minimum GPA of 3.0.

EMIF is not obligated to award any scholarships, and any amount awarded is based solely on the discretion, evaluation, and judgement of the EMIF Board of Directors.

A. This scholarship is based on academic achievement, personal character, leadership, financial need, and community service. The applicants must be seniors of an accredited high school or recent (within one year) graduates at the time of application.

B. Recipients shall not receive the actual scholarship until enrolled at an accredited college, junior college, vocational, or technical school. Upon notification by the recipient, EMIF will send scholarship funds directly to the school in which the recipient is enrolled. EMIF will advise school officials to administer or apply the scholarship funds to the recipient’s account.

C. Students will be evaluated without regard to race, color, creed, sex, national origin, religion, disability, or genetic information.

D. Should the recipient transfer to another school before using all available funds, the school may transfer any remaining scholarship funds to the new school of the student’s choice. The recipient agrees to notify EMIF of any transfer.

E. Should the recipient cease attending classes at the school of choice and not transfer to another school, the recipient agrees to return to EMIF any remaining scholarship funds that have not yet been applied.

F. The scholarship may not be used for home study programs, and can be used only for tuition, study materials, school fees and room and board.

G. The scholarship may be used in conjunction with a full scholarship such as ROTC, Bright Futures, etc., for school fees, study materials and room and board. The full scholarship monies will be applied first with EMIF funds supplementing financial requirements until expended or until all fees associated with E. above are paid, whichever is less.

H. A scholarship recipient planning a delayed school enrollment should notify EMIF. In EMIF’s sole discretion, the scholarship funds may be held in the student’s name for one year. The student must begin using the scholarship before October 1st of the calendar year following the award. On October 1st, scholarship funds which have not been deposited with the student’s school of choice will revert to the EMIF scholarship fund.

I. The scholarship recipient shall submit school transcripts to EMIF every renewal period, with continued annual funding dependent on a minimum 3.0 grade point average and the full-time student enrollment (a minimum of 12 semester hours or equivalent) for the upcoming Fall Semester.

J. The scholarship recipient shall participate in at least 20 hours continuing community service hours during the immediately preceding year.

K. The scholarship recipient shall attend an EMIF event (if feasible to do so).

  • A fixed monetary scholarship will be issued in the name of the student to the college of his/her choice for the student or students selected by the EMIF Scholarship Committee. These scholarships will normally be issued in the August-September time period. All applications will be evaluated by the EMIF Scholarship Committee.
  • The Guidance Office(s) of each applicable high school will be furnished with an online packet containing the program guidelines and requirements. The application form shall be completed and returned to EMIF by December 1st of the application year via the web site.
  • The Scholarship Committee will review the applications and score them during the evaluation process. 

The Scholarship Committee will use the following criteria for scoring:

CriteriaPossible Points
Financial
Financial Statement20
Other Financial Aid5
Education Data
GPA15
ACT/SAT5
Activities
Work History5
School Involvement10
Community10
Leadership10
Essay10
Written Recommendations10
Total100

The Scholarship Committee will provide the ranking of applicants to the EMIF President by January 20th. The scholarship recipient will be notified after the Board of Directors Meeting held in February, presently the first Wednesday of the month.

A formal presentation ceremony for the presentation of the scholarships to the recipient(s) may be scheduled for the EMIF Dinner and Scholarship Award Ceremony.

EMIF will send information packets to applicable high school counselors in August to announce the scholarship program. The packets will include the web site address to access the Scholarship Information Sheet along with the following attachments:

  • Application Guidelines
  • Applicant Information Forms
  • Counselor’s Student Information Form
  • Transcript Release Form
  • Financial Need Sheet

Special thanks to: