I recently wrote to previous recipients for their comments about how the scholarship has affected their lives. Here is an excerpt from one woman’s letter:

When one has been out of school for several years and has been working in a dead-end, low-paying job, depression and self-depreciation find a secure home. The Lex Mathews Scholarship Committee demonstrated its faith in my potential with an offer of financial help and my spirits and belief in myself soared. It was a positive affirmation that I very badly needed. I cannot thank the Committee enough for that emotional and psychological boost.

(Source: Colleen Hartsoe, “Judy Mathews and Friends Give ‘Birthday Present’ to Fund”, ECW Patchwork, Winter 1997, p. 2)