GRANVILLE – After providing scholarships to local students over the past 46 years, the Granville-Tolland Dollars for Scholars program is looking for new members as several board members are set to retire.

Kris LeFebvre, the president of the local Dollars for Scholars, explained that they are looking for people with unique talents to come support students in the Granville-Tolland district.

“We’re looking for people with unique talents, whatever they can bring. If it’s energy, a willingness to contribute, whatever people can provide will be more than welcome,” she said.

With several of the board members set to retire soon, Dollars for Scholars needs more help. LeFebvre said, “I’m retiring this year after being involved for 15 years and our treasurer is putting her succession plan in place, so we’re looking for a new crew to bring the organization into the future.”

She explained that the board is very involved with the planning process and there are various events and meetings throughout the year. She said, “We have very much a working board, it’s a board that rolls up the sleeves and helps out.”

LeFebvre said that Dollars for Scholars hosts several fundraisers throughout the year. She added that the biggest fundraiser of the year is their annual mail-a-thon.

“We used to do a telethon but people don’t like phone calls anymore so we switched it to a mail-a-thon. Now we do an appeal out to the community through the mail and that’s one of our primary fundraisers throughout the year,” she said.

She added that they’ve run smaller fundraisers as well, including an inflatable joust at the fall harvest fair, painting nights, book sales, jewelry sales and Dining for a Cause at the 99 restuarant in Westfield. One of their mainstays each year is to volunteer at Powder Mill School for the National Motor Cross every year by helping with the parking.

LeFebvre said that students interested in applying for the scholarship have to be full-time undergraduate students that live in Granville or Tolland. She said that they offer between $20,000 and $30,000 in scholarships every year.

With rising college costs , LeFebvre said Dollars for Scholars is doing everything it can to help local students out. She said, “The cost of school is only going up and with people paying upwards of $50,000 a year to go to college, being able to add a $1,000 or $2,000 is really a help because kids can’t earn that much in the summers anymore.”

Granville-Tolland Dollars for Scholars will next meet on Jan. 26 and interested volunteers are encouraged to reach out via email to LeFebvre at granvilletollanddfs@gmail.com.