The Pat Porter Memorial Scholarship was awarded Monday night at the Pat Porter Active Living Centre's annual fundraising banquet. 

Erica Heppner, a former SBC student and recipient of the scholarship, says this scholarship means a lot to her because now she's able to focus more on her studies instead of worrying as much about her finances.

"I'm pretty passionate about being involved in my community. Writing a paper for this scholarship, I talked about being involved in my church and in a college and career group. It's tough when you're going to school to find time to volunteer but I think it's very important and it pays off."

Executive Director Kim Duncan notes the criteria for this scholarship are the applicant must be in their second year of nursing and volunteer in their community. She explains why Heppner was chosen for the $1,000 scholarship. 

"Basically it was her community support. she has done a whole bunch of volunteer, she's taught vacation bible studies, Sunday school, she's worked at community camps, she's volunteering with youth in the city while she is going to school. She's just a very well rounded candidate that we're extremely pleased to be able to award her with the scholarship."

Duncan says thanks to the amazing generosity of all who attended Monday night's banquet, they were able to raise over $28,000. She adds this year the money will go mostly towards their general operating costs but she notes they will also use a portion of it to replace some of the lighting in their facility under Manitoba Hydro's Power Smart program. Duncan says they are very grateful for all the support they receive and can't give enough thanks to the volunteers as well as guests who attended the banquet.