March 19, 2024

Foundation Awards CSM Scholarships

CSM Scholarships

The Community Foundation of Southern Maryland presented awards on behalf of three funds and totaling $6,700 to support three scholarships at the College of Southern Maryland, the Roberta Kieliger Sisters at Heart Scholarship, the Peter Cangelosi Memorial Scholarship, and an Opportunity Fund recipient.

“We are so honored to be affiliated with this group, and it’s such a wonderful and heartwarming example of non-profits in Southern Maryland working together to ensure our young adults have opportunities to further their goals so they will make an impact in our community,” said CSM Foundation Chair Nancy Hempstead.

Awarded as part of the charitable community resources maintained and distributed by CFSOMD on behalf of its donors, the donations were specifically designated with $5,000 from Opportunity Fund to support a student at CSM in need with the cost of tuition and books for one year; $200 from the Southern Maryland Women’s League fund in support of the Peter Cangelosi Memorial Scholarship Fund; and $1,500 from Sisters at Heart Fund in support of the Roberta Kieliger Sisters at Heart Scholarship.

The Community Foundation of Southern Maryland awarded $1,500 through its Sisters at Heart Fund to support the Roberta Kieliger Sisters at Heart Scholarship at the College of Southern Maryland Foundation. Attending the event to present the funds were, front row seated from left, Sisters at Heart representatives Harry Frauenfelder and Sophia Schaeffer, and back row from left, CSM Development Director Chelsea Brown, CSM Foundation First Vice Chair Kim Rosenfield, Mary E. Rigney of Sisters at Heart, CFSOMD Board Chair Ellen Flowers-Fields, CSM President Dr. Maureen Murphy, Mary Gómez, Sue Maskaleris of Sisters at Heart, CSM Vice President of Advancement Michelle Goodwin, and CFSOMD board member Georgeanna Aist.

“The Community Foundation of Southern Maryland is proud to support the interests and passions of its fund holders through charitable distributions to worthy organizations like the College of Southern Maryland, that work to provide an improved quality of life for our citizens,” said Ellen Flowers-Fields, chair of the CFSOMD.

Established by an anonymous donor in 2015, the CFSOMD’s Opportunity Grant Fund is a donor advised fund to provide opportunities for and to address the pressing needs in Charles County. The funds provided to the CSM Foundation will be awarded to a student having financial need at the college and will support the cost of tuition and books for a year. It’s anticipated the scholarship will be announced during the college’s Oct. 27 scholarship reception.

Created in 2012 by his family after Pete’s untimely death at the age of 23, the Peter Cangelosi Memorial Scholarship Fund pays tribute to this Westlake High School graduate who was a talented student athlete and attended the University of Maryland Baltimore Campus as a Meyerhoff Scholar. His dream was to be a cardiac surgeon but in college his passion switched to medical research and he subsequently worked on projects that studied the positive effects of a Herpes drug on mice with induced multiple sclerosis and that studied brain trauma and recovery from blast injuries.

His scholarship is designed to benefit students who have financial need and are studying science or health related fields with preference for Eagle Scout, Girl Scout Gold Award recipient, student athlete, or community service volunteer. The scholarship’s first recipient, Sana Qureshi of Waldorf, was awarded in 2016 and received her associate degree in nursing this spring.

“Peter had a passion for learning and helping others. His memorial scholarship helps to spread his legacy to others. We couldn’t be more honored and blessed that his scholarship was chosen for the Southern Maryland Women’s League charity donation,” said his mother, Laurie Cangelosi.

Created earlier this year by local cancer survivor group, Sisters at Heart, in honor of their founder, the Roberta Kieliger Sisters at Heart Scholarship at CSM is designed to benefit students in the health care field, with a preference to students who are cancer survivors or family members of those who have battled cancer. Kieliger passed away shortly after the first recipients were awarded in February. “We’ve [Sisters at Heart members] all had breast cancer, and we’ve all been in and out of the hospital. Our whole mission is to support health care,” Nila Toribio-Straka, one of Kieliger’s Sisters at Heart friends, said in February when announcing the scholarship.

Ms. Toribio-Straka worked with the CSM development office to set up the scholarship. The initial funding came from Harry Frauenfelder, a good friend of Ms. Kieliger’s. The scholarship was awarded Feb. 2 to its first two recipients, Emily DiToto of Waldorf and Pilar Gonzales of St. Leonard. One week later, Ms. DiToto and Ms. Gonzales had the chance to meet Kieliger at her home. Read more on Kieliger and the first awards here.

“Every October, Sisters at Hearts celebrates National Breast Cancer Awareness Month with different events to support breast cancer survivors, and promote education to our community,” said Sister at Heart member Mary Gómez. “We are committed to honor Roberta’s legacy through outreach and with a portion of the proceeds supporting our Sisters at Heart scholarship in her memory.” For information about Sisters at Heart, visit their website.

The Community Foundation of Southern Maryland builds charitable funds that support community needs and opportunities in Calvert, Charles, and St. Mary’s counties. They offer donors a range of endowed and non-endowed fund vehicles, and work closely with families, individuals, businesses, estate attorneys, and financial planners to design gift plans that fit every economic situation. For information about the Community Foundation of Southern Maryland, visit their website.

The Southern Maryland Women’s League Fund was created in November 2008 to “promote, strengthen and support women and issues in the areas of health, education, economics, and other related issues, as they arise, and where a need is demonstrated.” For information about the Southern Maryland Women’s League, click here.

Scholarships are a key component of the College of Southern Maryland’s efforts to help students succeed. The CSM Foundation currently manages a number of annual and endowed scholarships, which allow the college to plan for the future and ensure that scholarship funds are available for an award every year. Over the past five years, the foundation has awarded more than $1.5 million in scholarships. For information on scholarships at the College of Southern Maryland, visit the college’s website.

For more about the College of Southern Maryland, visit its Leader member page.

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