High school seniors Emily Lonsdale of Windsor and Jamaal Tillery of Courtland have each earned $1,000 Worth H. Hudson scholarships awarded by the Educational Scholarship Foundation of the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives.

Lonsdale, the daughter of Victoria Lonsdale, will be graduating from Windsor High School. Tillery, the son of Michael and Ruby Tillery, is a senior at Southampton High School.

Both were awarded their scholarships based on a competitive screening process and were eligible for consideration because their parents are consumer-members of Community Electric Cooperative.

This year, the VMDAEC Educational Scholarship Foundation received 364 applications from students in areas served by electric cooperatives in Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. The Foundation is awarding 55 Worth M. Hudson Scholarships and six endowed scholarships of $1,000 each.

The Foundation is funded through tax-deductible donations from individuals and VMDAEC cooperatives and proceeds from benefit fundraising events. Recipients were chosen based on financial need (40 percent), academic achievement (40 percent) and a personal statement (20 percent).

“We were able to award a record number of 61 scholarships thanks to donations from several VMDAEC member cooperatives that were matched by CoBank through their ‘Sharing Success’ Program,” said Roberta Harlowe, chair of VMDAEC’s Educational Services Committee who serves on the board of Central Virginia Electric Cooperative.

Since its inception in 2001, the Foundation has awarded 470 electric cooperative scholarships totaling $369,500. The number of scholarships awarded each year is based upon available funds, and these grants can be used to pay for tuition, fees and books.