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George & Cora Webster Scholarship Endowment Fund

Established 2010

Cora & George Webster
Cora & George Webster

The George and Cora Webster Scholarship Endowment Fund provides scholarships to African American students who are graduates of high schools located within the Community Foundation service area.

George Webster is a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Westinghouse High School in Pittsburgh and attended Pennsylvania State University. In 1963, Mr. Webster enlisted in the United States Marine Corps, where he attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. His service included sixteen months in Vietnam. After serving ten years in the Marine Corp, he joined the United States Navy.  From 1979 until 1982, he was a Navy recruiter in Aurora. He served on five different aircraft carriers, and eventually achieved the rank of Master Chief Petty Officer. Upon his retirement from the service in 1988, he and his wife Cora Webster moved back to the Aurora Community. George was also an Aurora Election Commission Judge for twenty-one years and a member of the Aurora Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association for many years.

Cora Webster was born in Eudora, Arkansas.  She worked as a licensed cosmetologist in Texas and was employed by both the May Company and the KMART Corporation in Illinois. Cora (1939-2022) was a member of the Main Street Baptist Church and served as a member of the Nurse’s Aide Ministry.

Mr. and Mrs. Webster were married in December 1969 at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church in Chicago. They have one son, one granddaughter, two grandsons, and two great-grandsons.

YEP was a great experience to have in high school. I became a more confident person, someone with a lot more perspective. Coming from a small school, YEP allowed me to branch out into my community, meet students from other schools, and learn about their backgrounds. I made some great friends and still keep in touch with them today.

Abby Vagnoni

YEP Alumni

YEP has made me realize the importance of being involved in my community, and how to make a difference. There are a lot of problems in the world but if we can do everything that we can to help the world will become a better place. YEP has helped me realize this and encouraged me to help more people in the future.

Madi Porter

YEP Member

Give your gift of time and see what it means to the people you impact. Helping others is what life is all about.

Neal Ormond

Donor & Fund Advisor

Being a part of the Community Foundation scholarship committee is the highlight of my year. For many, a scholarship from the CFFRV is the reason they are able to continue reaching for their dreams and changing the future of our world. I hope each recipients knows just how inspirational they are to those of us who are lucky enough to read their stories.

Jessica Breugelmans

Scholarship Committee Member and Board Member

Education is important to us. We support causes that touch our lives and align with our values. We believe in paying it forward. We are here for a short time,, and it is the next generation that will take on what we leave behind.

Michelle Emanuel

Donor and Past Scholarship Recipient

Grant funds from the Community Foundation helped provide updated technology. These upgrades were transformative. By creating new time saving processes, it turned us into a more efficient organization.

Marie Wilkinson Food Pantry

Grantee

I am incredibly grateful for the generosity of the Zari Foundation Scholarship and the Community Foundation in supporting my education. I am majoring in mechanical engineering with a concentration in aerospace engineering at the Rose-Hulman Institue of Technology. In my spare time, I volunteer on campus, in the community and I’m also the principal violist in the symphony orchestra. I hope to make an impact on the next chapter of space exploration by eventually working at a groundbreaking aerospace company such as SpaceX or NASA.

Taytum Newell

Albert M. Zari Scholarship Recipient

YEP was a great experience to have in high school. I became a more confident person, someone with a lot more perspective. Coming from a small school, YEP allowed me to branch out into my community, meet students from other schools, and learn about their backgrounds. I made some great friends and still keep in touch with them today.

Abby Vagnoni

YEP Alumni

YEP has made me realize the importance of being involved in my community, and how to make a difference. There are a lot of problems in the world but if we can do everything that we can to help the world will become a better place. YEP has helped me realize this and encouraged me to help more people in the future.

Madi Porter

YEP Member

Community Foundation of the Fox River Valley

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