The Community Foundation awards hundreds of scholarships each year to students from 60 high schools in the Fox Valley. We frequently receive letters and phone calls of gratitude from students and from their parents.

We are incredibly thankful to share the stories we hear, like this one from a Carl Mleziva, a father of a scholarship recipient who graduated from Manitowoc Lincoln High School. With Carl’s permission, we are glad to share his letter about his son, Nate:

Nate Mleziva (L), and his father, Carl

I am Nathaniel Mleziva’s dad; we spoke on the phone yesterday. As you know, Nate was granted the generous Oliver E. Swiekar scholarship.

I am sending this email to let you know how much it means to me that Nate was granted this scholarship. Nate is a smart but quiet boy, and school was sometimes a challenge for him to navigate. I worried that college might not be in his future.

But during Nate’s junior year at Manitowoc Lincoln High School he gained some good friends and confidence and his interest in school soared. He has worked so hard to get to where he is now, and I am very proud of him—and tell him so.

Receiving a scholarship such as this one was a huge affirmation for him, and really reinforced for him that he is on a good path. He was just beaming last night when he and I discussed the scholarship; and I expressed how pleased I was with him that, due to his efforts in high school and the kindness of the scholarship donor, the Community Foundation, and the selection committee, he was awarded such a generous contribution towards his future.

On campus: Carl (center) with sons Nate (R) and Aaron (L).

He is committed to becoming a successful college student at Milwaukee School of Engineering, and eventually a software engineer; and this scholarship will help greatly in making this possible.

You will be hearing from Nate soon, but I wanted to send you this note to let you know how much of a positive impact this has had on him. Please pass this on to whomever you feel would like to hear a bit more about Nate and what this scholarship means to him and to me.

Thank you, again,

Carl Mleziva

Applications for our scholarships are available online. Last year $1.01 million was awarded to 408 students.
Go to our portal to search and apply.

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Would you like to help award a scholarship? We have many scholarship committees that need volunteers to evaluate applications. Contact our donor services and scholarship manager Jill Muthig at (920) 702-7619 or [email protected].