When he was a financial planner, Bruce Micheel regularly advised clients to include a provision in their estate plans benefiting their favorite charities or nonprofit organizations. “That way, they could continue supporting those organizations long after they had passed,” said Bruce, who worked at Smith Barney and later Merrill Lynch before retiring in 2018. “I came to realize that I should heed my own advice.”

That realization occurred to him in 2011, as the Scholarship Foundation was gearing up to celebrate its 50th anniversary. As part of their commitment to the associated fundraising effort, Bruce and wife Kathleen joined the Scholars Circle. “Scholars Circle members have a lasting legacy at the Scholarship Foundation, one that will help local students far into the future,” said Bruce, explaining the couple’s thinking at the time.

In fact, the Micheels have supported the Scholarship Foundation since 1991, the year Bruce joined the Foundation’s Board of Directors (he went on to serve as Board president from 2001 to 2003), and have now donated nearly $80,000 to the organization over the last 34 years.

“We believe there is no better way to invest in future generations than to fund educational opportunities for young people,” said Kathleen, a retired psychotherapist whose parents were both educators. “Education is in our history, and we feel strongly that scholarships level the playing field for those who would otherwise not be able to go to college.”

These days the Micheels busy themselves with travel, pickleball, and indulging their 10 grandchildren. They never tire of encountering former scholarship recipients who have done well for themselves.

“Being a part of the organization for so long, it’s gratifying to see people come full circle – they were scholarship recipients and now they’re doctors, dentists, lawyers, etc.,” said Bruce. “That’s one of the things that makes the Foundation so special.”