Four high school seniors from Southside Virginia have each earned $1,000 college scholarships awarded by the Education Scholarship Foundation of the Virginia, Maryland & Delaware Association of Electric Cooperatives (VMDAEC). The 2018 recipients are:

• Emily Andrews, a senior at Gretna High School and daughter of Jessica and Jason Andrews of Gretna.

• Cody Brugos, a senior from Dinwiddie High School and the son of Donna and Anthony Brugos of Dinwiddie.

• Wade Reiter, a senior at Dinwiddie High School. He is the son of James and Naomi Reiter of North Dinwiddie.

• Jesse Sanderson, a senior at Randolph-Henry High School. He is the son of William and Laura Sanderson of Farmville.

These students were eligible for consideration because their parents are members of Southside Electric Cooperative (SEC). This year, the VMDAEC Education Scholarship Foundation is awarding 54 $1,000 Worth Hudson scholarships to students who live in areas served by electric cooperatives in Delaware, Maryland and Virginia. These grants can be used to pay for tuition, fees and books.

The scholarships are named in honor of Worth Hudson, the first chairman of the VMDAEC Education Scholarship Foundation and former chairman of the board of directors of Mecklenburg Electric Cooperative in Chase City, Virginia. Since its inception in 2000, the Foundation has awarded 683 post-secondary scholarships totaling $582,500.

The Foundation is funded through tax-deductible donations and bequests from individuals, proceeds from benefit fundraising events and Co-Bank’s Sharing Success Program. It also participates in the Amazon Smile Program.

Founded in 1944, VMDAEC is the trade association for Southside Electric Cooperative and 14 other electric co-ops that serve Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. It is based in Glen Allen, Virginia, and provides safety and employee training, governmental relations, communications, including the publication of Cooperative Living magazine, and other services to its member cooperatives. For more information on VMDAEC and the scholarship program, please visit www.vmdaec.com or www.co-opliving.com.

Southside Electric Cooperative is a not-for-profit, member-owned electric cooperative that serves more than 55,000 homes and businesses in portions of 18 counties in central and southern Virginia.  Headquartered in Crewe, SEC has district offices in Altavista, Crewe, Dinwiddie and Powhatan. For more information, visit www.sec.coop.