The Community Foundation typically awards over $600,000 in scholarship assistance to Chautauqua region students every year. This $600,000 comes from over 200 separate scholarship funds administered by the Foundation. These are both very impressive numbers considering the rising costs of college and the number of students in financial need. These numbers also demonstrate the many charitably-minded community citizens who see the importance of providing educational assistance to area students. This was exactly the thinking of Walter and Grace Hazzard over 50 years ago. 

 

Walter and Grace Hazzard were prominent in Chautauqua County through most of the early to mid-1900s. Both were Jamestown residents much of their lives, very active leaders in the community, were involved in numerous activities and organizations, and were very charitable to causes in which they believed. The Hazzards truly lived with a philosophy of: You are only as good as what you give back to your community.

 

In 1954, the Hazzards died in a tragic automobile accident, but the impact they made in the past continues to be seen today. After their deaths, an Educational Trust Fund was established at the Bank of Jamestown, based upon the terms of their will. The Trust was established to serve as a scholarship fund for students from Cassadaga, Falconer, Frewsburg, Jamestown, Maple Grove, Panama, and Southwestern High Schools and to help provide these students with the means to attain a college education. In 1984, a petition was brought to transfer the principal of the fund, totaling over $700,000 at the time, to the Community Foundation.

 

In just the past ten years alone over 1,200 area high school students have received a scholarship award from the Walter and Grace Hazzard Scholarship Fund. In that same time, over $700,000 was awarded. Most impressive, with significant growth over time, the fund now stands at over $2 million in assets. 

 

Today marks the 3^rd Annual Walter and Grace Hazzard Scholarship Fund Picnic. The picnic, which was started by a local attorney with ties to the Hazzards, welcomes former Hazzard Scholarship Fund recipients and other individuals who wish to remember this great couple. The picnic was originally established with the idea to celebrate the Hazzards’ lives and to remember their philanthropy and leadership of over 50 years ago. The picnic also stands as recognition of the Hazzards relevance today, as the action they took so many years ago is continuing to have a substantial impact on the lives of local students. If you are a Hazzard Fund scholarship recipient we would like to hear from you, so please call the Foundation staff at 661-3390. This will ensure you are invited to this picnic in coming years. 

 

Walter and Grace Hazzard are an ideal example of what giving today can mean 20, 50, or even 100 years down the road. Over 50 years ago, Walter and Grace Hazzard saw a need in the community and created a fund to address that need. Today, the impact their fund is making is immeasurable. If you see a need in the community that you would like to address, call 661-3390 and talk to the CRCF staff about starting a fund. If more people followed the lead of Walter and Grace Hazzard, the community would be in good hands for years to come.