by Leah Jackson
White Scholarship Presentation: Students from St. Mary’s Cooking for a Cause Club presented a donation to the NSU Foundation to fully endow the James C. White Memorial Scholarship. On the front row from left are Father Blake Deshautelle, Sarah Thibodaux, Anne Michelle Long, Caroline Godfrey, Emma Grace Haecker, Kadence Creamer, Abigail Guillet, Mason McCart, Liz White Miller, Camille Ball, Erin Dupree, Emma Broadway, Anna Kate Jackson, Mason Melder, Sheridan Pesnell and Carmella McCart. On the back row are Fire District 6 representatives Michael Sesvold, Jon McCart, Zack and Jordan Miller and Garrett McCart.
The James C. White Memorial Scholarship at Northwestern State University is now fully endowed at the $10,000 level thanks to the efforts of family and friends. The final donation of $1,370 from the St. Mary’s Cooking for a Cause Club pushed the scholarship to the endowed level. SMS students joined the White family in presenting the contribution to the NSU Foundation.
Club organizer Mason McCart said Cooking for a Cause cooked and baked items to sell to raise funds for the scholarship, which benefits a firefighter, first responder or immediate family member of a firefighter or first responder attending Northwestern State University.
McCart is the son of Carmella and Jon McCart, a fellow firefighter and friend of White’s. Personnel from the Natchitoches Fire Department and other friends established the scholarship in 2019.
James C. White grew up in Cloutierville and graduated from St. Mary’s in 1991. He attended Southern Arkansas and Nicholls State University. He began working for the Natchitoches Fire Department in 1996 and was promoted to captain in 2005. He was also an EMT for the Natchitoches Regional Medical Center Ambulance Service. He was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor in 2006 and passed away in 2007, leaving a wife, Liz, and two sons, Zachary and Jordan.
Liz White Miller is employed at St. Mary’s and both Zachary and Jordan are graduates of SMS.
“I started the club last September and every month, we select a charitable cause,” Mason McCart said. Philanthropies have included breast cancer research, hurricane relief, the Natchitoches Women’s Resource Center, Natchitoches Humane Society, a local domestic violence support group and this latest contribution to the NSU Foundation.
Friends can continue to support the James C. White Memorial Scholarship visiting northwesternstatealumni.com and making a donation under the Give tab, specifying the scholarship in the Comments section. Donors can also send contributions to the NSU Foundation, 535 University Parkway, Natchitoches, Louisiana 71497 with a memo indicating James. C. White Scholarship.
Visit Northwestern State University Website: https://www.nsula.edu/
