Aid proves very beneficial

Ala Lucky, a Stall High graduate who is a nursing student at S.C. State, receives scholarship money raised through the Lowcountry Classic football game.

Ala Lucky plans to be among the crowd of students from South Carolina State attending Saturday's Lowcountry Classic III football game between the Bulldogs and Bethune-Cookman at Johnson Hagood Stadium. If she's cheering a little louder, a little harder than most, there's a good reason.

Lucky is one of the many S.C. State students who have benefited from scholarship money raised through the Lowcountry Classic.

"Before this, I was really struggling to make it," said Lucky, a junior nursing major from Charleston with a 3.5 grade point average. "My life has gotten so much easier, thanks to the scholarship money from the Lowcountry Classic."

Lucky, a Stall High graduate, managed to get through her freshman year at S.C. State on partial academic scholarship money from several sources, but a tuition hike and complications with her funding left her approximately $300 short heading into her sophomore year.

It may not seem like much, but to Lucky, already stretched to her financial limit, it was a nearly insurmountablemountable obstacle.

"I didn't know what I was going to do," she said. "I guess I would have tried to work something out. I probably would have had to come home and work on the weekends, and I probably wouldn't have been able to get my books until midway through the semester."

A fellow student suggested she call Maurice Washington, the Lowcountry Classic chairman and chairman of S.C. State's board of trustees.

After hearing Lucky's story, Washington made sure S.C. State was able to come through with additional money for tuition as well as books, thanks to the revenues raised from the Lowcountry Classic.

"Students like Ala are certainly the ones we're trying to reach," Washington said. "I'm glad we've had a chance to play a role in helping her in school. She certainly has shown drive and determination. She's like a lot of students who just need a chance."

After this year's game, Washington estimates the Classic will have generated more than $500,000 in scholarship money for disadvantaged students.

Gate proceeds from the game remain with the football team, but corporate sponsorship dollars and revenue from events surrounding the game — like Saturday night's Mary J. Blige benefit concert at the North Charleston Coliseum — go directly to scholarships.

From 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday at the Burke High School Fine Arts Center, S.C. State officials will be reviewing the transcripts and SAT scores of prospective students and offering on-the-spot scholarships to those who qualify.

At halftime of Saturday's game, $100,000 of the money raised from last year's contest will be awarded in the form of Wachovia Scholarships to 50 deserving students. Washington says last year's game raised approximately $170,000 from sponsorship dollars and revenue from special events.

"It has gotten bigger and better each year," Washington said. "We wanted to take something as simple as a football game and rally support around it for helping deserving students from disadvantaged households to have a chance to go to college and get an education. It's also good for the Charleston community. So far, we're hitting on a lot of fronts. We're having a positive impact on the local economy and we're raising substantial funds for students who just need a chance."