In 2018 six Downtown Bettendorf business women gathered all their energy and passion together to formulate ways to overcome challenges the construction of a new interstate bridge in their neighborhood would pose on their businesses. The result of their meetings and friendship was creating an ornament that would commemorate the existing iconic I-74 Bridge. The ornament would feature original artwork created by a local artist and assembled by the ladies themselves. Their perseverance paid off and the sales of the ornament grew into an annual fund raiser. During that time, Council Woman Debe LaMar was losing her battle with cancer. Debe was the longest serving council person in Bettendorf, loved all things art, and encouraged all women everywhere to dream big. The business women decided to create this $500 scholarship to celebrate Debe using the funds from their annual ornament sales.
Criteria to Apply:
· Open to one female student enrolled at Bettendorf High School and one female student enrolled at Pleasant Valley High School.
· Must plan to attend a Quad City college in the fall following high school graduation.
· Has maintained a 3.5 GPA
· College major will be Government, Business, or Arts focused.
· Has shown excellent community involvement and served as a positive role model.