by Elizabeth Clarke
The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation of Atlanta has awarded Louisiana Christian University a grant of $72,000 for nursing student scholarships for the 2022-23 academic year for women enrolled at LCU.
“The faculty and students of the Rife and Carolyn Saunders Division of Nursing are excited and appreciative of the LPW scholarships,” said Marilyn Cooksey, dean of the School of Nursing.
Cooksey said the funds will facilitate nursing education and graduation of deserving student nurses.
“We are grateful for the continuing support of the Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation for equipping a future generation of nurses who model the faith and values espoused by both entities,” said President Rick Brewer. “The need for nurses has never been greater, but the need for nurses who approach their work as a calling is significantly needed now more than ever.”
The LPW Foundation was chartered in 1946 for the “aid and benefit of poor and deserving Christian girls and women” in nine Southeastern states. The foundation is the legacy of Lettie Pate Whitehead who inherited and ran a multi-million dollar business upon the death of her husband.
Thousands of young women have benefited from the generosity of the foundation. In 2021, the foundation awarded over 200 scholarships in nine Southeastern states and provided senior care for select facilities. A total of $53 million was given for their charitable programs in 2021.
The Lettie Pate Whitehead Foundation supported 199 schools and colleges and 16 institutions that provide care for senior citizens. The will that created the Foundation designates those supported organizations by class, restricting support to “established educational institutions of good standing” that provide “proper and adequate education to poor and deserving Christian girls” and “established hospitals or institutions for indigent Christian women” in nine southeastern states. No supported organizations are named in the Foundation’s governing documents because the supported organizations are designated by class and the Foundation has maintained historic and continuing relationships with its supported organizations since it was created in 1953.
