HAYS COUNTY STUDENTS
College is expensive, and for many, scholarships can be life-changing, particularly when they come with one on one professional mentorship. Three Hays County high school students, including two from San Marcos High School, will now receive $7,500 per school year and receive mentorship and support services for the next four to eight years, courtesy of St. David’s Foundation. The Neal Kocurek Scholarship was awarded to 45 students. The three from Hays County are Dayannara Cruz — San Marcos High School, Eva Moore — San Marcos High School and Javeryn Gallo — Moe and Gene Johnson High School. According to Natalia Hasson Ciolko, St. David’s Foundation communications officer, many of the award recipients will be first generation college students and were chosen for their “exceptional personal stories.”
Ciolko said the selected Neal Kocurek scholars are matched with employed professionals in the area that can give them one on one guidance throughout the year to “help guide their personal and professional development.”
“To date, the St. David’s Neal Kocurek Scholarship program has awarded over 800 scholarships. Many of our alumni are now employed as doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and many other healthcare professions. We have seen many of our scholars pay it forward to the younger generation of Kocurek Scholars by volunteering as mentors and/or serving on our scholarship committee,” Ciolko said. “Through this program, we continue our mission of health equity by supporting our future healthcare providers in achieving their educational and professional goals.”
Dayannara Cruz, one of the scholars selected from San Marcos High School said this scholarship has affirmed that all of the hard work and dedication given up to this point have paid off.
“This accomplishment gave me a significant boost of confidence and helped me realize that my dreams are within reach,” Cruz said. “I view this scholarship as a crucial stepping stone toward my future career in medicine, particularly my aspiration to become a surgeon. The support it provides will be invaluable as I continue my education through medical school. The welcoming community and positive atmosphere that this scholarship fosters have been incredibly inspiring. It’s challenging to express just how grateful I am; this opportunity has been a tremendous blessing in my life. Receiving this scholarship has not only impacted me personally but has also motivated me to inspire others in my community, creating a ripple effect of positive change.”
Ciolko said St David's Foundation is one of the largest health foundations in the United States, and it allocates $80 million annually back into the five-county area surrounding Austin. The foundation partners with St. David's Health-Care to strategically reinvest proceeds from the hospital back into the community in order to advance health equity and improve the health and well-being of the most underserved residents in Central Texas.
“Beyond our grantmaking work, we operate the largest mobile dental program in the country providing charity care and offer the largest healthcare scholarship program in Texas, the St. David’s Neal Kocurek Program,” Ciolko said. “Through investments and action, we are committed to centering health equity in all that we do so that all Central Texans have a fair chance to achieve optimal health with no avoidable, unjust or systematically caused differences in health status due to ethnicity, race, age, ability or geography.”
Ciolko said the namesake of the program, Dr. Kocurek, was a civic and community leader with a passion for education and “special gift of bringing people together” in order to create partnerships that progressed areas such as health care, social equity, public education and regional stewardship. St. David’s Foundation created the scholarship program to honor Kocurek’s “dedication to healthcare and education” in 2005.
“He served St. David’s Health Care System as President and CEO for six years, overseeing a period of unprecedented growth and transition as St. David’s became one of the largest healthcare systems in Central Texas,” Ciolko said. “Dr. Kocurek was deeply invested in the challenge of providing healthcare for the poor and addressing the root causes of health inequities in Austin. His legacy is still felt far and wide in Central Texas, through this scholarship program, the convention center that is named for him, and countless other projects.”
Learn more about St. David’s Foundation at this link stdavidsfoundation. org.
