The Vecellio Family Foundation (VFF) has announced the recipients of its 30th annual college scholarship program, which in 2002 awarded 10 scholarships of$10,000 each — for a total of $100,000 awarded.
The scholarships provide each recipient with $2,500 per year, in care of the chosen college or university, for a total of four years.
VFF is a charitable organization established by the principals of The Vecellio Group, one of the nation’s leading contracting groups.
Scholarship recipients are selected by independent review boards not connected with VFF, the Vecellio Group or any of its companies.
Two of the awards were given through the Employee Scholarship Program for dependents of Vecellio Group employees. These recipients were:
Charlie Jose Ferrer, son of Jose Ferrer, a truck driver for our Miami asphalt plant.
Charlie, a graduate of Barbara Goleman Senior High School in Miami, expects to attend Florida International University and major in computer engineering.
Mary Kathleen Bell, daughter of Johnson Bell, a superintendent for Vecellio & Grogan.
Mary is a graduate of Greenbrier East High School in West Virginia. She plans to attend a college or university in the Mid-Atlantic region and major in speech pathology.
Scholarships were also presented to eight other individuals, all from high schools in West Virginia, where Vecellio & Grogan has operated for more than 60 years.
Jeffrey M. Richmond of Beaver, representing Shady Spring High School, has been selected to receive a Leo A. Vecellio, Sr. Memorial Scholarship, named in honor of Vecellio & Grogan’s co-founder and the father of Vecellio Group CEO Leo Vecellio, Jr.
Liberty High School graduate Heather Nicole Dillon, of Beckley, also received a Leo A. Vecellio, Sr. Memorial Scholarship.
Representing Woodrow Wilson High School are three scholarship winners, all from Beckley: Megan Stark, who received a Rick Vecellio Memorial Scholarship, named to honor the late brother of Leo Vecellio, Jr.; Emily Traube, who was granted a Leo A. Vecellio, Sr. Memorial Scholarship; and Christopher Cooper, who received an Al Janutolo Memorial Scholarship, named for a long-time Vecellio & Grogan employee.
From Independence High School, Ashleigh Prince of Beckley received a Leo A. Vecellio, Sr. Memorial Scholarship.
In McDowell County, representing Mt. View High School, Jennifer Raelynn Bailey of Welch was awarded a Dr. Dante Castrodale Memorial Scholarship, named in honor of Leo A. Vecellio Sr.’s brother-in-law, who served as a physician in the McDowell County area for many years.
The winner of the annual Youth Conservation award is Mendy Jo Stover of Liberty, who received the Rick Vecellio Memorial Conservation Scholarship.