Annual Celebration of Philanthropy Honors Scholarship Donors and Recipients
The Middlesex College Foundation reception celebrates the impact of community support on students.
Ava Specht (center), recipient of the Sara Dubinin Scholarship, stands with Pattiann McMahon (left), who helped establish the scholarship with Betty Dubinin (right), who founded the Sara Dubinin Foundation in memory of her daughter.
The Middlesex College Foundation honored benefactors and beneficiaries at its Annual Celebration of Philanthropy and Scholarship reception November 21.
417 Middlesex College students garnered 911 awards totaling $575,136 from various philanthropic efforts and members of the regional business community.
One of the 12 new scholarships Middlesex College Foundation donors established in 2024 was by the Sara Dubinin Foundation. The Sara Dubinin Scholarship honors the legacy of the former student killed in a tragic car accident in 2007. Dubinin’s death led to the advent of “Sara’s Law” that established a statewide registry of emergency contacts for individuals involved in vehicle crashes.
Ava Specht, 19, the first recipient of the Dubinin Scholarship, recalls her parents active support of the law. The Sayreville native is working toward earning her associate degree in early childhood education with a planned May graduation date.
“I work full-time, so getting this scholarship helped me drop down some of my hours and be able to put more focus on my students,” Specht said.
Ava Yap, the evening’s highlighted scholarship speaker, earned the Switzer Foundation Annual Scholarship. Ava shared the impact of scholarships on her personal educational journey, as well as stories of classmates and alumni professors who also earned awards during their time at Middlesex College.
“I feel fortunate that I was granted two scholarships as they lifted a financial burden and allowed me to maintain my higher education plan,” said Yap.
Cheryl Lockard, the Finance Director at Trammell Crow Company, a global real estate and investment firm that provides scholarships for both degree and non-degree programs, encouraged the students to be mindful of their accomplishments and “to consider the culture and reputation of the organization they will join, and also to put in the hard work.”
Since 1967, the Middlesex College Foundation has awarded over $19.5 million in scholarships and financial aid to 19,500 students. The mission of the Foundation is to provide educational opportunities for qualified students and help them realize their academic and career goals.
In addition to providing scholarships, the Foundation supports the vital needs of raising funds for programs and grants for on-campus endeavors. The Foundation is a 501c3 organization and gifts are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. If interested in creating a new scholarship, or adding support to an existing one, please contact Foundation Executive Director Lisa Kelly at LKelly@middlesexcc.edu.
