WS Chronicle

Each year, the Ministers’ Conference of Winston-Salem and Vicinity (MCWSV) awards scholarships to local seniors to assist them with their needs as they matriculate onto the collegiate level.  2018’s fundraising service will be held 7 p.m. on Jan. 15 at St. Paul United Methodist Church, 2400 Dellabrook Road, where Rev. Donald Jenkins is senior pastor.

Churches within the conference are all asked to donate funds to the scholarship.  Churches with large memberships are asked to give $300, churches with medium-sized memberships are asked to give $200 and churches with small memberships are asked to give $150.

Members of the conference are asked to donate $50 toward the scholarships.  The conference also solicits donations from non-members.  Once all of the donations are collected, The Chronicle newspaper matches all funds collected by the conference to allow more students to benefit from the scholarships.

The conference proudly brings these scholarships to the students of Forsyth County because the members firmly believe in investing in the next generation.  Bishop Todd Fulton, MCWSV scholarship fund chairman, says one of the highlights of his year is helping the kids.

“The biggest thing for me is when I hear our black kids aren’t doing anything. This proves that this is not the case entirely for the community,” said Fulton.  “You have young intelligent African-American students who are going on continuing their education.

“They are going to be our future leaders so I feel that the future is in good hands because we are empowering young brothers and sisters to further their education and go on to make a difference in the world.”

As the new publisher of The Chronicle, James Taylor Jr. felt continuing the partnership with the MCWSV’s scholarship fund  was definitely the right thing to do. 

“We know as times change, young people now more than ever have to be engaged in the education system,” said Taylor.  “We know that education is the key to success and we are very excited to work with the Ministers’ Conference to provide scholarships to students who live in our communities.

“This was a tradition that was started by Mr. [Ernie] Pitt and the former regime at The Chronicle, and we are happy to carry on that tradition moving forward.”

Last year, the conference was able to provide 15 students with scholarships totaling $12,000.  This upcoming year, Fulton says they want to exceed that number.

Also, they will honor Winston-Salem Police Chief Katrina Thompson, insurance agent Emma Allen and City Council Member Denise “D.D.” Adams for their contributions to the city.  According to Fulton, the theme for 2018 is “Honoring Women in the Struggle.”