LCCC Foundation facilitates dreams

When it comes to higher education, Luzerne County Community College first-year nursing student Jeffrey Perez believes that having access to financial aid is vital for students to reach their full potential.

“I feel like these resources allow for students to dream bigger, to know that there are possibilities beyond their financial limitations,” he said.

The 29-year-old Hazleton resident speaks from experience.

When he first moved to Pennsylvania from New York City in 2021, he was accepted into Bloosmburg University to finally continue his education, but was unable to attend because he couldn’t afford the tuition.

Perez previously attended college in New York, as a nursing major and then as an English major, but dropped out after a couple years because he believed he lacked the discipline necessary to succeed at the time.

Then, Perez looked into educational opportunities at LCCC.

“I decided to just go ahead and get started. I figured six years already passed. More time is gonna pass by, so why waste any more?” he said.

His newfound commitment to his education paid off. Perez is now a recipient of this year’s First Federal Charitable Foundation’s Endowed Scholarship and the Getha & Isadore Edelstein Endowed Scholarship, awarded by the Luzerne County Community College Scholarship Foundation.

Luzerne County Community College Foundation Inc. was founded in 1983 and, according to the foundation’s executive director, Rebecca Brominski, it has awarded $6.5 million in scholarships to students over its 40-year history.

An awards dinner at Mohegan Pennsylvania on Saturday will honor this year’s scholarship recipients and donors as well as foundation community award winners, including the Luzerne Foundation (Community Champion award); Geisinger (Circle of Excellence award); and Cross Valley Federal Credit Union (Legacy award).

“One portion of the scholarship dinner that we love the most is connecting our current scholarship recipients and their donors,” Brominski explained. “We pair them together at the dinner, they’ll have a meal, they’ll converse and they’ll get to know each other. We’ve heard so many stories about students who have stayed in contact with their donors well after graduating or after transferring to another institution and they’re part of their lives.”

In addition to the 170 scholarships it gives out, the foundation also provides transportation assistance to students, financial aid for course materials and clothing and foods banks at each of the school’s locations.

The impact of all this support can be seen in students like Perez, who said the two scholarships he was awarded will greatly relieve some of his financial burden.

“I’m at a place now that I’m able to actually focus on my studies, and I’ve been able to get the grades that I got and accomplished all the things that I’ve accomplished with the help of the scholarship because it’s one less thing that I had to worry about,” he explained.

Dr. Marisue Rayno, who is part of the nursing faculty at LCCC and has taught Perez in a clinical setting for the last seven weeks, said she couldn’t imagine a student more deserving of the honor.

“His attitude and ability to articulate to people — it’s just evident to me that this man’s going far,” Rayno said. “He is really outstanding in his work, especially his professional demeanor.”

When he was told how much Rayno praised his work ethic, Perez was moved.

“I’m a very emotional person, so I kind of have tears in my eyes right now,” he said.

The nursing student went on to say that receiving that kind of recognition from a teacher was both rewarding and validating.

“I feel like this is definitely the hardest thing that I’ve embarked on in a very long time, especially after being outta school for so long,” he said. “So to see my hard work paying off, but to also see that other people are seeing it and that other people are talking about it, makes me feel like it’s not just the grades that are backing me up, but I’m also showing up in ways that people can feel that difference.”

Rayno said that financial assistance is especially important to students who may be struggling to hold down a job as well as attend classes.

Perez is one of those students. As a Resource Specialist at a Walmart Distribution Center, Perez is a full-time worker and works three 12-hour days every week.

“I have to be very intentional about how I spend my time, but I have the four days out of the week where that’s pretty much where my clinical goes and my lectures and my labs take place. I have to make sure that every single day I’m doing a little bit of studying so that I’m not just leaving it for one day,” he explained.

As for the future, Perez isn’t sure where he’ll end up. While he’s toyed with the idea of moving down south to Florida because he loves the sunshine, it’s also possible that he’ll say in Pennsylvania and build his life here.

“The experience that I’ve had living here really has changed a lot of things for me. I feel like it’s allowed me to get a lot of time back. It’s allowed me to kind of think about the things that I want out of life. I don’t think that I’m ready to give that up yet,” Perez said.

He added, “I feel like being able to pay that forward and give that to someone else, whether that be in my health field or not, would be something that I would like to continue.”

Brominski said the idea of paying it forward is an integral part of the college because many scholarship donors are alumni themselves.

“So many students wouldn’t be here without it.”