Balda Family Foundation Awards $8K in Scholarships to FIT Students

Gift Targets Brevard Grads Planning to Study Engineering 

MELBOURNE, FLA. — The Balda Family Foundation of Melbourne has made a grant of $8,000 to Florida Institute of Technology to offer scholarship assistance to graduates from Brevard County high schools who will be studying at Florida Tech’s College of Engineering during the 2016-17 school year.

The scholarships made under this grant are matched by funds from Florida Tech, which doubles their impact.

The recipients are Briana Marilyn Cantos, David Riley Elliott, Andrew S. Koch, Shane Logan-Ray McConkey, Lidia Yuryevna Potapova, Rolando Saul Quintana, James Ranyak and Spencer Steven Tuttle.

Believing that higher education is a stepping stone to a better life, the Balda Family Foundation has supported more than 130 Florida Tech students through scholarship grants totaling nearly $100,000 over the past eight years.

The Balda Family Foundation celebrates the life of Ricardo Balda, a first-generation college graduate who immigrated to America from Ecuador. For him, education was the platform for achievement in life. Today, his children Rick Balda, Kathy Mills, Tony Balda, Dan Balda and daughter-in-law Sarah Balda honor Ricardo Balda’s legacy through their Foundation’s long-standing relationship with Florida Tech. The Balda Family Foundation’s mission is to provide educational opportunities and scholarships to academically promising youth from Brevard County.

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