On May 25th, 2021, the Center of Help presented the scholarship awards from the Suzanne F. Cohen Scholarship Fund to Judith Menjivar Morales, and Javier Enrique Orellana Ostorga.

Judith Menjivar just graduated senior at Annapolis High School. She is originally from El Salvador, and came to the United States when she was 15 years old. Since then, she has worked very hard, and gave her best to make her dreams come true. In November of last year, she started to apply for colleges, and overall, she was able to apply to fourteen colleges of which she was accepted in thirteen of them. After months of hard work, and consideration she was finally able to make a final decision, and now she is fully committed to Loyola University, Maryland where she plans to major in Biology. Her goal after graduating from college and getting her degree in biology is to apply to medical school and begin her research on cancer.  

“Getting into the medical field will be a perfect way to give back to my community.  But mainly it will be the perfect way to use my voice as a tool of empowerment and representation in my Latino community. In the future, I would like to be a role model for other students who will come after me so they can also continue to empower our Latino community and that way we will be more well represented in the STEM fields”- she mentioned.

Javier Orellana Ostorga considers himself a renaissance soul and biophilic. He just graduated senior of the class of 2021 from Annapolis High School. Javier is an Honor Roll student, an athlete, a student volunteer and works part-time at a local restaurant. He is originally from El Salvador, but since 2016 he emigrated to Maryland with his family. According to him: “Having come to live in the United States has been a pivotal moment in my life because having left everything I have loved, known, and experienced to gradually make the American dream a reality in my life has been both a challenge and a blessing. A challenge because adapting to a new language, culture and educational system has been so difficult and a blessing because now I consider myself a Spanglish person as well as the first one in my family to graduate from high school and eventually attend The George Washington University in D.C. My desire is to study political science and help to create a better future for the world.” 

The Center of Help congratulates Judith and Javier for their accomplishments!

The scholarship awards were possible thanks to the generous donations to the fund from Ms. Tatiana Klein, Beverly and Stephen Marcus, and Joe Simon. Also, the Center of Help would like to recognize and thank Thomas McGinn, chair of the Scholarship Committee, and the members of the Scholarship Committee for their good work in reviewing the applications and selecting our awardees: 

• Richard Heath – Retired Director of Student Financial Services at Anne Arundel Community College
• Pablo Hernandez – Financial Aid Specialist & Scholarship Officer at Anne Arundel Community College
• Beverly Marcus – Community member, donor, and supporter of the Center of Help
• Jay Thompson – ESL Program Volunteer, donor, and fundraising consultant for the Center of Help

Suzanne F. Cohen, a renowned philanthropist, leader within the Jewish community, patron of the arts and champion of important and just causes, died on Nov. 19, 2018. This fund was created in her name to recognize her lifetime desire to create social equity through expanding access to education, the arts, cultural resources and creative opportunities. To learn more about Suzanne F. Cohen and the fund, visit: https://centerofhelp.org/scholarship-beca/.

To see the presentation of the scholarship awards from the Suzanne F. Cohen Scholarship Fund, visit: https://www.facebook.com/226979307698507/videos/298936038372575

Our scholarship is funded through our endowment. If you would like to contribute to the scholarship fund, please donate through the Community Foundation of Anne Arundel County at https://cfaac.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create?funit_id=2016