American Family Fitness awards $5,000 in scholarships

Lauren Nicole Porter, Steven Higbie and Thomas Vernon Allen have been awarded scholarships from American Family Fitness.

Porter, a senior at Cosby High School, was awarded a $3,000 scholarship. Higbie, a senior at Cosby High School, and Allen, a senior at Manchester High School, both received $1,000 scholarships.

The scholarships will be awarded to Porter and Higbie at the Cosby High School awards program Friday, May 22, at 8:30 a.m. Allen will receive his scholarship at Manchester High School's awards program Tuesday, May 26, at 7 p.m.

Porter, a Midlothian resident, intends to major in education at Longwood University. During high school, she volunteered with Virginia Blood Services and Lucy Corr, was a member of the debate team and choir, and worked part time at Open Arms Daycare.

Higbie, a Midlothian resident, will attend the University of South Carolina where he plans to study exercise physiology. In high school, Higbie played varsity basketball and volleyball, serving as captain of both teams as a senior, and he volunteered with the Jeremiah Project, a mission and ministry organization.

Allen, of Chesterfield, will enroll at Liberty University where he plans to study sports medicine or education. At Manchester, he was the morale manager for the varsity football and basketball teams. He also participated in a variety of activities through the Virginia Department of Education and Technical Training Assistance Center at Virginia Commonwealth University Self Determination Project.

Graduating seniors from the cities of Colonial Heights and Fredericksburg and the counties of Chesterfield, Hanover, Henrico and Spotsylvania were eligible to apply for the scholarship, the third annual sponsored by American Family Fitness. Criteria included having an intended college major in business or a health-related field, having maintained a minimum 3.0 GPA in high school, serving at least 20 hours of community service and exhibiting strong leadership abilities and a commitment to future volunteer service.