Forever Thankful

Casey Jackson

2016 Chelan High School Graduate
2019 University of Washington Graduate

Thanks to all of your amazing help, I am officially a college graduate! I wanted to write a thank you letter expressing my gratitude for allowing me to receive a higher education at an incredible institution through the WAEF Foundation and the CCM Scholarship. I graduated from Chelan High School in 2016 and attended the University of Washington as a Scholarship recipient of the CCM Scholarship. In December, I finished my last quarter at UW, and I am beyond words and incredibly grateful for both the WAEF Foundation and CCM Scholarship Donors from CMI Orchards, McDougall & Sons and Columbia Fruit. I wanted to reach out and express my thankfulness to all the hard work and passion that goes into the work done at both the WAEF Foundation and through the generous scholarship donors.

First off, WAEF helped support me throughout my entire college experience. Some support included providing holiday dinners, summer scholarship luncheons and free dinner at The Ram, in University Village. Other support including pretty much anything and everything that a student would need to be successful in college. WAEF was always willing to answer my questions and help with whatever I needed while I was at school. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to student success and inclusion. The care packages made my transition to college a little easier and it was always fun to look forward to receiving the packages.

Additionally, the CCM Scholarship was able to provide me with scholarship money that helped pay the majority of my college tuition as well as housing. This was huge and I am still overwhelmed thinking about receiving this scholarship. I remember thinking back to the day when I first received my email from WAEF congratulating me on receiving the scholarship. I did not believe it; I was so shocked and so incredibly excited for my college journey to begin. This scholarship allowed me to attend my dream college and I am forever grateful for the education that I received at the University of Washington.

This scholarship was crucial to my success while in college. I was able to focus on my schoolwork and not have to stress about my finances or being able to afford school. I feel grateful and lucky that I was able to have this opportunity and hope that one day I will be able to give back to my community and future students receiving a college degree as well. I want to set a good example and be a role model for other college bound students.

I am graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Communication and a Certificate from the Foster School of Business Professional Sales Program. I am excited to announce that I have just received a job at Chelan Fresh in their accounting department.

I will forever be thankful for this scholarship and for allowing me to thrive these past few years and for the rest of my life. Go Huskies!