By John Lynds
Donna Rauseo Scholarship winner, Carolyn Searles (center), awaits the announcement of the scholarship winners.
The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) announced the recipient of the annual scholarship honoring the memory of Donna Rauseo, a lifelong resident of East Boston and a long-time Massport employee.
The $5,000 Donna Rauseo Memorial Scholarship was awarded to East Boston resident Carolyn Searles. Searles is a graduate of Boston Latin School. In the past, she volunteered with the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center Elder Service Plan and currently volunteers at her church.
“We are very pleased to award Carolyn (Searles) with the Donna Rauseo Scholarship. She has shown a commitment to following in Donna’s footsteps with her community service and we wish her the best of luck,” said Massport CEO Thomas Glynn. “Her commitment to the community as a volunteer epitomizes what we were looking for when we established the scholarship in memory of our friend and colleague Donna Rauseo.”
The Donna Rauseo Memorial Scholarship will be awarded annually to a female student who resides in East Boston, is graduating from high school and has been accepted to an accredited college or university.
Donna Rauseo, a longtime East Boston resident known for her personality and sparkling sense of humor, died in 2009.
Born Donna Morash, Rauseo was part of an Eastie family known for their political, social and environmental activism. At a very young age Rauseo’s social conscience was fully formed by her family, most especially by her mother, longtime community activist Evelyn Morash.
Rauseo was a graduate of East Boston High School and began her working career helping the neighborhood’s poorer residents through the East Boston APAC social service programs.
After working at APAC for over two decades, Rauseo went on to work for Massport as Tom Kinton’s executive assistant when Kinton served as Aviation Director at Logan Airport and later CEO and Executive Director for Massport.
To be considered for the Donna Rauseo Memorial Scholarship, students must be female and are required to have a minimum 3.0 grade point average and submit an essay of 1,000 words describing their career interests or how their community service has affected their outlook on life.
In her essay, Searles credited her volunteer work because it, “shaped my perspective on being around different groups of people… Through my education I hope to learn about and discover more ways in which to positively influence and impact people’s lives.”
Searles will be attending Gordon College and is considering studying social work.
“Carolyn was a wonderful asset to the day program. Carolyn had a humble attitude while engaging with this population and was willing to do whatever was asked of her as a volunteer,” said Pat Bellone, Recreation Therapist for the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.
Scholarship essays are judged by a committee made up of Massport employees and a representative of the Rauseo family.
Students interested in applying for the 2017 scholarship should visit www.massport.com/scholarships for eligibility requirements.
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Massport CEO Thomas P. Glynn, Stephen Morash (Donna Rauseo’s brother), Carolyn Searles and Massport’s Director of Government and Community Affairs Jose Masso.
Donna Rauseo Scholarship winner, Carolyn Searles (center), awaits the announcement of the scholarship winners.