Good Neighbor Pharmacy names college scholarship recipients

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — AmerisoureBergen’s Good Neighbor Pharmacy network network announced Thursday that it awarded a total of $12,500 in college scholarships to seven high school seniors aspiring to enter the healthcare industry.

The scholarships were granted in partnership with each recipient’s local Good Neighbor Pharmacy, with 28 pharmacies from Virginia and 16 from North Carolina participating in the program.

“Good Neighbor Pharmacy is proud to foster the next generation of pharmacists and healthcare leaders through our scholarship program in North Carolina and Virginia,” Dave Neu, president of Good Neighbor Pharmacy at AmerisourceBergen, said. “Independent pharmacists play a critical role in their local communities by fostering wellness and shaping healthcare delivery. This scholarship program gives them another outlet to support their communities by assisting outstanding students in their higher education. It is our hope that these scholarship recipients will use their education to contribute to the healthcare field and perhaps even become independent pharmacists themselves.”

The Good Neighbor Scholarship Committee selected the 2015 winners from a pool of 287 applicants, a nearly 200% increase from last year. In addition to listing academic and extracurricular achievements, applicants were asked to write an essay about improving the health of their community. 

The 2015 Good Neighbor Pharmacy Scholarship winners and sponsors are:

• 
  $5,000: Allison Burns – Hanover High School, Mechanicsville, Va. (Colonial Pharmacy);


• 
  $2,500: Mitchell Kreisel – Currituck County High School, Barco, N.C. (Good Neighbor Pharmacy);


• 
  $1,000: Grant Kiser – Harrisonburg High School, Harrisonburg, Va. (Fishersville Family Pharmacy);


• 
  $1,000: Katherine Quigley – Stuarts Draft High School, Stuarts Draft, Va. (Stuarts Draft Family Pharmacy);


• 
  $1,000: Kaleigh Smith – Nelson County High School, Lovingston, Va. (Stoney Creek Pharmacy);


• 
  $1,000: Charles Strimel – Nelson County High School, Lovingston, Va. (Stoney Creek Pharmacy); and


• 
  $1,000: Gibson Barker – Eastern Alamance High School, Mebane, N.C. (Haw River Discount Drug).

Virginia independent pharmacies began their scholarship program more than 25 years ago and have given away over $200,000 to qualified students. North Carolina independent pharmacies began offering scholarships six years ago and have awarded over $25,000.