The Rotary Club of Anthem recently named its annual scholarship in honor of a long-time Rotarian Edward Varney who was a champion and critical member of the scholarship committee for many years.

It is now called the Edward F. Varney Memorial Scholarship fund. Ed passed away June 20 of this year.

 Despite battling the pandemic last year and the beginning of this year, Anthem Rotary had a record-breaking fundraising year thanks to the great community of Anthem and their support of our events.

We normally award five $1,000 scholarships to outstanding high school graduating students of the area for their academic accomplishments. This year we had 18 individuals apply which was by far the most applicants we have ever had.

Our Scholarship Committee, led by Krista Solomon, reviewed all the applications and we could not separate five winners. The Board of Directors agreed with the Scholarship Committee’s recommendation, and we awarded all 18 of the applicants with a $1,000 scholarship.

The club held a reception at Anthem Civic Building for all the winners and their families to celebrate the accomplishment. It was well attended by many, and seven of the recipients were there to recite the essay they wrote and told the club about their future plans in education.

The club has set up a system to be able to donate to the scholarship fund and already has received over $6,000 in donations. An incredible tribute to Ed Varney and his commitment to the Community.