Comcast Awards $23,000 in Scholarships to Vermont High School Seniors

Comcast Leaders and Achievers® Scholarship Program Recognizes Vermont Students for their Academic Achievement and Community Service

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Mar 21, 2014, 03:52 ET

MONTPELIER, Vt., March 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Comcast Foundation, founded in 1999 to provide charitable support to its local communities and to empower and enrich lives, has awarded 14 Vermont high school seniors scholarships through its annual Leaders and Achievers^® Scholarship Program awards. The program, one of the Comcast Foundation's signature community investment programs, recognizes students' leadership skills, academic achievement and commitment to community service.

2014 Vermont Leaders and Achievers(R) Scholarship Recipients with Governor Shumlin, March 21, 2014. (PRNewsFoto/Comcast Cable) (PRNewsFoto/COMCAST CABLE)

Comcast, joined by Governor Peter Shumlin, recognized the students at a special event held at the Vermont State House today. The fourteen recipients each received $1,000 scholarships. One student, Marissa Farbman, a resident of Killington and student at Woodstock High School, was selected to receive an additional $9,000 Comcast Founders Scholarship - instituted in honor of Ralph J. Roberts, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of Comcast Corporation. In total, Comcast awarded $23,000 worth of scholarships in Vermont this year.

"I appreciate this commitment to Vermont's students by Comcast," said Governor Shumlin. "These scholarships will help young Vermonters who will make a real difference in their communities."

"This year's scholarship winners demonstrate exemplary commitment to leadership in both their classrooms and community," said Mary McLaughlin, senior vice president of Comcast's Western New England Region, which includes Vermont. "We are proud to recognize their achievements, and are excited to support them as they continue their educational journeys."

The Comcast Leaders and Achievers^® Scholarship Program provides one-time $1,000 scholarships to students who strive to achieve their potential, who are catalysts for positive change in their communities, who are involved in their schools, and who serve as models for their fellow students. The philosophy behind the program is to give young people every opportunity to prepare for the future and to engage them in their communities. The program also demonstrates the importance of civic involvement, and the value placed on civic involvement by the business community.

Since 2007 Comcast has awarded a total of $126,000 in Leaders & Achievers Scholarships to 99 students in Vermont. Since the program's inception, more than $21.6 million in scholarship money has been presented to more than 21,000 scholarship winners nationwide.

The fourteen Vermont students receiving scholarships include:
Nicole Begin, a resident of Stockbridge and student at Whitcomb Jr/Sr High School in Bethel
Hunter Cole, a resident of Rutland and student at Rutland Senior High School
Summer Colley, a resident of Colchester and student at Colchester High School
Marissa Farbman, a resident of Killington and student at Woodstock Senior High School #4 in
Woodstock
Katherine Furland, a resident of Essex Junction and student at Essex Community Education Center in Essex Junction
Olivia Hern, a resident of Shelburne and student at Champlain Valley Union High School in Hinesburg
Dermot Hughes, a resident of North Chittenden and student at Proctor Jr/Sr High School in Proctor
Peter Kendall, a resident of Springfield and student at Springfield High School
Gregory Taran, a resident of Poultney and student at Poultney High School
Caitlin Saunders, a resident of Arlington and student at Arlington Memorial High School
Claire Schmelzenbach, a resident of Tinmouth and student at Mount St. Joseph Academy in Rutland
Kalie Warner, a resident of Randolph and student at Randolph Technical Career Center
Jeffrey White, a resident of Barre and student at U-32 High School in Montpelier
Molly Zmich, a resident of Morrisville and student at Peoples Academy in Morrisville

Connect with the scholarship winners at www.facebook.com/ComcastLeadersandAchievers and https://www.facebook.com/comcastnewengland. Explore and "like" Comcast in the community at www.facebook.com/WePowerDreams.

The Comcast Leaders and Achievers^® Scholarship Program is one of the many ways that Comcast gives back to the communities we serve. Click here to learn more.

About the Comcast Foundation
The Comcast Foundation was founded by Comcast Corporation in June 1999 to provide charitable support to qualified nonprofit organizations. The Foundation primarily invests in programs intended to have a positive, sustainable impact on their communities. The Foundation has three community investment priorities – expanding digital literacy, promoting community service and building tomorrow's leaders. Since its inception, the Comcast Foundation has donated nearly $140 million to organizations in the communities nationwide that Comcast serves. More information about the Foundation and its programs is available at www.comcast.com/community.

About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) is a global media and technology company with two primary businesses, Comcast Cable and NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone provider to residential customers under the XFINITY brand and also provides these services to businesses. NBCUniversal operates 30 news, entertainment and sports cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, television production operations, television station groups, Universal Pictures and Universal Parks and Resorts. Visit www.comcastcorporation.com for more information.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140321/NE88543

SOURCE Comcast Cable