Hailey Whiteley is not shy about helping others. Whiteley, who just last month graduated from E.L. Crossley Secondary School, compiled more than 400 hours volunteer hours, 10 times the 40 required to graduate. Whether it was helping the Town plan Summerfest while on co-op placement or working in the kitchen at the Fonthill Legion, Whiteley stepped up to help. At Crossley, she ran several school clubs, played on the girls’ hockey team, and volunteered as a scorekeeper for other sports.
All that volunteering resulted in Whiteley being awarded a $1,000 bursary from the Hal Rogers Endowment Fund to put toward her post-secondary education. Rogers was the founder of the Kinsmen Club of Hamilton, the first Kinsmen Club in Canada. Applicants for the bursary are graded on a points system and chosen based on their community and school involvement, knowledge of Kin Canada and financial need. Rogers passed away in 1994 and the endowment was created in his memory.
And not only was Whiteley awarded a bursary, but she was also the top applicant.
“That’s pretty cool,” Whiteley said.
Whiteley had been scouring for scholarship opportunities to when it was suggested she apply for the bursary from the Kinsmen.
“The president of the Fonthill and District Kinsmen asked me to apply,” Whiteley said, referring to Craig Frere.
And now will be headed off to the University of Alberta in the fall, where she will be majoring in biochemistry to go with a minor in psychology.
“I’m hoping to do genetic research relating to mental health,” Whiteley said, adding her interest in the field stems from mental health concerns for a family member.
“It’s fascinating,” she said. “It will be nice to be able to perform research.”
Len Doyle, a longtime member of the Kinsmen Club of Fonthill and District, said Whiteley was a great choice and deserving of the award.
“There is lots of criteria,” Doyle said. “But her many, many volunteer hours, effort and knowledge of Kinsmen helped her stand out.
Fonthill Kinsmen secretary Jim Jenter helped select the local winner. He said criteria used for selecting a bursary recipient included volunteer work at school and in the community, financial need, and a knowledge of the Kinsmen Club and what it does in the community.
“It was that last one that clearly made Hailey our winner this year,” Jenter said.
As it turned out, Whiteley’s family has some family roots with the Kinsmen.
“My great-grandparents, Glyn and Lois Roberts, were lifetime Kin members in the Didsbury Kin Club in Alberta, and they were wonderful role models for me,” Whiteley said.
The Hal Rogers Endowment Fund is funded by Kinsmen clubs from across Canada, who are asked to raise funds towards $1,000 bursaries awarded to graduating high school students going on to a post-secondary education institution. This year, the clubs raised enough to fund 104 bursaries. There were 800 applications received.
Jenter said the bursary being in Rogers’ name is fitting.
“Hal Rogers was very involved in education, having served on the Toronto school board,” he said. “He felt deeply that education for young people was priceless.”
