FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Lee Health Foundation has awarded two students with their first ever Barbara’s Friends scholarship, which is designed to allow childhood cancer survivors and children battling blood disorders a chance to pursue their academic goals without financial burden.
The first recipient is Michelle Glarum, who is a senior at North Fort Myers High School and is living with sickle cell disease. She plans to attend State College of Florida Bradenton with a goal of becoming an occupational therapist. Her goal is to help others overcome their challenges of living with pain, and share her lifelong learnings of coping with her own blood disorder to help others.
The next scholarship recipient is Mallory Rice, who is a brain cancer survivor and student at Cypress Lake High School. Rice plans to start her college career at Florida Southwestern State College and wants to go into the education field to help children with special needs.
Rice and Glarum will both receive full four-year scholarships to the college of their choice.
“Pediatric cancer patients and their families face personal and financial hardships that impact them for the rest of their lives. We created this scholarship to give these survivors the ability to follow their dreams without their families worrying about how to pay for college. Michelle and Mallory are exceptional young women, and I hope these scholarships help them accomplish all of their academic and professional goals,” Dr. Emad Salman, Regional Medical Officer at Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida said.
The scholarships are administered through the Southwest Florida Community Foundation and these two scholarships were made possible by donations from Lexington Country Club and Madisen’s Match, which is a celebrity tennis tournament fundraiser.
For more information about Barbara’s Friends or to fund treatments or future scholarships for children, you can visit BarbarasFriends.org.
