Foundation awarded $300k grant for students
Even after nearly two years, the effects of Hurricane Harvey are still felt today. Lone Star College students impacted by the storm are eligible to apply for a special scholarship thanks to a grant from the Qatar Harvey Fund and Rebuild Texas Fund.
"We know firsthand the catastrophic damage Hurricane Harvey imposed on our community," said Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., LSC chancellor. "These funds will go a long way to help our students continue on the road to recovery and complete their education."
LSC-Kingwood alone lost six of its nine buildings due to flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey.
LSC will receive $300,000 to establish a new scholarship program to assist up to 300 students who had financial challenges after Hurricane Harvey. The funds, to be used for fall 2019 and spring 2020 classes, will help students get back to school and back on track with a combination of funds for tuition and related academic costs.
"We have heard so much about the negative ripple effect of Hurricane Harvey on the communities of southeast Texas. The damage goes far beyond physical damage and people are still recovering from the enormous financial burden that caused so many to stop or delay their education in order to meet urgent needs," said His Excellency Sheikh Meshal bin Hamad Al-Thani, Qatar’s Ambassador to the U.S. "We are honored to work with the Rebuild Texas Fund on what we hope will serve as a multiplier effect, a balance against the life-upending impact of Harvey, and allow these students to achieve in their academic studies and beyond."
Funding is provided by the Qatar Harvey Fund, a $30 million gift from the State of Qatar in 2017 for the long term recovery of southeast Texas. The funding is granted through a partnership between the Qatar Harvey Fund and the Rebuild Texas Fund. The Rebuild Texas Fund, a collaborative project of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the OneStar Foundation, was created to support the rebuilding of Texas communities hit hard by Hurricane Harvey.
"It’s important for Texas’ future that students return to their communities and complete their degrees. The Rebuild Texas Fund wants the communities hit by Harvey to continue to rebuild and come back stronger than ever – supporting our students and helping them complete their studies is an important part of that process," said Neeraj Aggarwal, program director for the Rebuild Texas Fund.
The Rebuild Texas Fund supports organizations across all five regions impacted by Hurricane Harvey and that provide services in six focus areas: community and economic development; health; housing; education and child care; transportation and workforce; and capital for rebuilding small businesses.
About the Qatar Harvey Fund and the State of Qatar
Following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in August 2017, the State of Qatar announced a gift of $30 million for the long term recovery of the storms victims in Texas. The Qatar Harvey Fund was created to administer the gift. For more information, visit www.QatarHarveyFund.com. Qatar is an independent state in the southern Arabian Gulf. It has a population of approximately 2.7 million people, the majority of whom live in and around Doha, the capital. Diplomatic relations with the United States were established in 1972; in the same year, Qatar’s first diplomatic mission in Washington, D.C. opened. The relationship between the two countries has always been friendly, highly productive and reciprocal. Qatar is home to many Americans, and the United States is both Qatar’s largest foreign investor and its largest source of imports. Qatar-U.S. relations are growing continuously in multiple areas: economic, political, military, educational and cultural. Qatar is a close ally of the United States and a strong advocate of building a peaceful, prosperous and stable Middle East. Qatar has provided significant humanitarian and development assistance to countries around the world, including the United States.
About the Rebuild Texas Fund
The Rebuild Texas Fund is a collaborative project of the Michael &; Susan Dell Foundation and the OneStar Foundation, established to support the rebuilding efforts in communities impacted by Hurricane Harvey. The Rebuild Texas Fund works alongside organizations and community leaders in the following six focus areas: community and economic development; education and childcare; health; housing; rebuilding small businesses and workforce and transportation. The Rebuild Texas Fund will fund projects and organizations through July 2019 and will continue to work alongside communities through August 2020. Funding through the Rebuild Texas Fund is provided to eligible nonprofit, government, corporate, and philanthropic organizations working on the ground in affected Texas communities. More information about the Rebuild Texas Fund is available at www.rebuildtx.org.
About Lone Star College
Lone Star College offers high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education to 99,000 students each semester. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., serves as chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area with an annual economic impact of nearly $3 billion. LSC consists of seven colleges, eight centers, two university centers, Lone Star Corporate College and LSC-Online. To learn more, visit LoneStar.edu.