Swanhaven Manor, a retirement community in Thomas Township, recently started its own scholarship through the Saginaw Community Foundation.

“Unique, hand-decorated holiday wreaths were created by local businesses and then raffled off to raise money,” said LeeAnn Martuch, program officer at the Saginaw Community Foundation. “The funds raised will help create a scholarship to assist a Thomas Township student interested in pursuing post-secondary education in a trade area.”

The Saginaw Community Foundation offers more than 150 scholarships to students. In 2012, $326,000 in scholarships were given to 192 high school, college, and nontraditional students. Since 1987, the foundation has awarded more than $3 million to students to help them achieve their educational goals.

“People traditionally think scholarships are just for high school seniors,” Martuch said. “But the Saginaw Community Foundation offers scholarships for all sorts of people – from displaced workers to the single mother just returning to school to a student working full-time and attending college part-time.”

Martuch said the foundation offers many scholarships that are not typical, such as scholarships focused on vocations like HVACR, cosmetology, aviation, hotel management, music, nursing and more.

Scholarship applications are due Feb. 1 and can be created at saginawfoundation.org. Only a single application is needed to apply for scholarships at the foundation.