Greater Northern Lehigh Chamber of Commerce has announced the recipients of the 2020 Chamber scholarships. Introduced in 2017, Greater Northern Lehigh Chamber of Commerce Scholarship Foundation was created to serve college-bound students in the school districts of Northern Lehigh, Northwestern Lehigh, Northampton Area and Parkland as well as LCTI.

The 2020 recipients of this $500 scholarship include Dario James Walnock (Northampton Area School District), Benjamin Dobbs (Parkland School District), Nathan Green (LCTI), Samuel Weaber (Northern Lehigh School District) and Jacob Dellicker (Northwestern Lehigh School District).

Applicants must use the funds to continue their education and must have a clean school record with no disciplinary infractions. Additionally, each student must have at least a C grade average or better and be involved with extracurricular activities and show work and/or volunteer experience.

“Members of the Greater Northern Lehigh Chamber of Commerce are committed to our communities in many ways, and our scholarship fund is supported by our members and board of directors through the various fundraising efforts during the year,” said Andy Gildner, board chair of Greater Northern Lehigh Chamber and owner of Keystone Technology LLC. “We had many applications, helping to concrete our belief that this scholarship is a necessary and welcome tool for our students. Our board and members are committed to helping further the educational opportunities available to our local students, and we personally congratulate our scholarship winners.”

“The Greater Northern Lehigh Chamber was blown away by our applicants this year,” added Kylie Adams, manager of affiliated Chambers for Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. “The Chamber’s scholarship fund has been an important initiative to support our future business and community leaders. We see this as an important investment in the future of our community. The gentlemen receiving this year’s awards have distinguished themselves within our community, and we look forward to seeing what they do next.”

Each recipient is a member of the Class of 2020 with excellent academic records and will continue on to higher education.

Walnock will attend Carnegie Mellon University to study computational finance and will play on its football team. He has distinguished himself as a leader and role model in the classroom and through his various extracurricular activities (football, student government, DECA, National Honor Society and lacrosse).

“I have done so by being ranked No. 1 in my class, being the class treasurer and by being a team captain and scholar athlete on the football field,” Walnock said. “I volunteer as a youth sports volunteer as well as a Miller-Keystone Blood (Center) (blood) drive volunteer.”

Walnock hopes to be a quantitative analyst.

“We are proud to be able to support our future leaders through the GNLCC scholarship program. It was quite inspiring to review all of our applicants this year,” said Jessica O’Donnell, executive vice president of affiliated Chambers for Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce. “We wish the very best to all of our scholarship recipients as they embark on a very important journey in their lives.”

The scholarship recipients will be celebrated, with their families, at the Chamber’s fourth annual William George mini golf tournament Aug. 6. The family-friendly event will be held at Bear Rock Junction Mini Golf in New Tripoli and is a fundraiser for Greater Northern Lehigh’s scholarship fund. Tickets are available online at lehighvalleychamber.org/events.

Greater Northern Lehigh Chamber, which serves Lehigh, Heidelberg, North Whitehall, Lynn and Washington townships and Slatington and Walnutport boroughs, hosts several events per year to engage local businesses and community partners, as well as to raise money for their scholarship fund. For more information on Greater Northern Lehigh Chamber of Commerce or to get involved, contact Adams at kyliea@lehighvalleychamber.org.