The Zinch Report

One thing that we hope we can do more of is scholarships. The biggest reason is because we know how needy so many students (and families) are. Most families simply can't afford paying for college. With tuition expenses booming and student loan interest rates climbing, it is a struggle for so many families. It's so sad. Extremely sad.

We at Zinch are dedicated to helping high school students pursue higher education. Our core mission is providing them a way in which they can market themselves, showcase their greatness, and shine to colleges and universities. However, one of the biggest obstacles in making all this a reality is the financial responsibilities that college brings. It's a painful reality. And it sucks that so many motivated, qualified and gifted individuals are left outside the college gates because of finances, not because of who they are and what they can do.

There are already so many wonderful philanthropists who have donated millions into non-profits and college access groups that assist the needy individuals. We salute them. However, there are still tens of thousands of wealthy individuals around the world who still haven't grasped and understood the reality of this problem. They probably aren't reading this, but if you know one of them, forward this on to them.

Here are a few excerpts from letters that i've received from parents...

...My two children really need the scholarship you are offering. One or the other can use the money because we, their parents, are Salvation Army ministers and we don't have extra money. We work very hard but cannot take other jobs because our work is 24/7/365 a year. I, their mom, have been working in disaster work and was privileged to go to Biloxi, MS after Hurricane Katrina and help with the relief effort. I have a heart for others just like my children. They have always thought of others and have served in soup kitchens, children's programs (tutoring and music lessons for free) and Family Reading Programs where children are given free books and families work on projects as a unit instead of individually. We have not been able to save money to send our children to college. Our oldest went and we have to send our whole monthly salary to pay for her education and we had to buy food with credit cards which we are paying off now....

In the past six months we have discovered my daughter has epilepsy. We are still paying on these bills. I have spinal stenosis and arthritis caused by being run over by a car when I was eleven years old. I have to go to the Pain Management Clinic to get spinal injections periodically. They are very expensive.

We would appreciate any help you could give my son so that he can accomplish his dream. He is a good young man and has done more volunteer work for Baptist Men, Samaritan Purse, and our community than most adults will do in a lifetime.

Our grandson needs all the scholarships he can get. His mother passed away when he was 13 years old, just 2 weeks after Mother’s Day. He so loved his mother. We became his guardian because no one knows where is father is. His father left when his Mom was 2 months pregnant with him. This has had a tremendous effect on our grandson. But he still keeps trying and we are so proud of him.

Being orphaned has been hard on him, but because his mother was a 3rd grade teacher and she believed in education, this has prompted him to push for the best he can be. He is very smart and is ranked 2nd in his class of 75. He tries to help other students who need help with different subjects. He studies hard to make the grades he makes. He is a gifted child and has been ever since he was in 1st grade.

Our income is not very high ($25,000.00 last year) and so for him to be able to further himself in his education he will have to get scholarships to put him through college. He doesn’t complain if we don’t have money for certain things and he has to wait to get it. Matter of fact he has said if he doesn’t get any scholarships he will still later on continue his college education. He is very determined to make something of himself.

We have had to be his support as far as a mother-father figure for the last four years now. In Nov. of 2006 I found I have cancer of the stomach, esophagus and liver. I hope to last until our grandson graduates in 2008. This has devastated him. I know when I go this will have such a bad effect on him. It troubles me because this child has been through so much already. He keeps trying to convince himself that the chemotherapy will get rid of my cancer, but it won’t. The mass in my stomach is too large, but I can’t find it in my heart to tell him that death is inevitable for me. It would just break his heart.

To simply put it, our grandson needs scholarships because of the lack of money. He has worked so hard and we feel he deserves better things in life. Better things than he has been dealt. He still wants to make his Mom proud of him.

There are still dozens and dozens more. Perhaps down the road i'll post them.