Fund provides incentive for college

Adam Lidgett

Despite Great Neck’s image as an affluent community, many graduating seniors still have trouble paying for their first year of college, according to Elise Kestenbaum, Great Neck Student Aid Fund president

“There are a lot of people below the poverty line here,” Kestenbaum said. “What you see from the outside is not always what is going on in the community — it’s important to help each other.”

The Great Neck Student Aid fund, which has been operating for 84 years, assist 60 to 70 Great Neck students a year attend their first year of college by giving financial aid .

While some scholarships are based on factors such as academic or athletic achievement, Kestenbaum said, the money the fund gives out is solely based on need.

Last year, Kestenbaum said, each recipient received about $2,500 toward their first year of post-secondary education, which for many went toward  community colleges or vocational schools.

Kestenbaum said that offsetting the cost of tuition for the first year often gives the student the final push they need to attend college.

“We figure once they get there it’s the push they need to stay there,” she said. “We used to be able to pay for the full first year, but now we can’t — we give out whatever we get in.”

Kestenbaum said the fund raises money only through donations, relying primarily on  two fundraising letters sent out each a year — one in the fall and one in the spring. The spring letter was sent out in April.

One of the biggest problems the fund faces, Kestenbaum said, is that people aren’t aware it exists.

“We’re kind of under the radar,” she said. “There are clubs at [Great Neck] North and South High that help raise a little money.”

“A lot of donations come in from people who have given money for years,” Kestenbaum said. “A lot of people who donate are people who got scholarships years back.”

The only cost the fund incurs is postage for the fundraising letters.

Kestenbaum said about 97 cents of each dollar goes toward scholarships.

At the beginning of each year, Kestenbaum said, the fund sends home aid applications with all seniors at Great Neck North High School and Great Neck South High School.

The fund requires a students’ Free Application for Federal Student Aid form and tax return forms.

The fund’s board of directors then sift through the application.

Kestenbaum said each year the fund has difficulty deciding if they should accept more students and give each student less aid, or accept less students who each get more aid.

“It’s always ‘how many can we help and what’s the best way to do it,’” Kestenbaum said. “Our motto is we want to help change the direction of a life.”

The fund also helps the students complete their aid forms, Kestenbaum said, as many students don’t understand the financial information. Students also fill out a biographical questionnaire.

“A lot of kids don’t have parents who went to college, and they don’t know how to fill out the forms,” she said. “We help them in any way we can.”

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