fountainhead
SILVER Star
Hi Everyone,
I wanted to take a minute to offer a recap of the #livelikelash scholarship details and provide an official account of where we ended up after closing the seed round for the fund after Crawl. Rather than post this at the end of this year's Crawl thread, I'm starting a dedicated one and am asking the Mods to make it a 'sticky'.
Each and every one of you should be proud of what was accomplished here, and you should know how proud and humbled Lash would be. As was stated at the Crawl on Saturday night - the opportunity to change someone's life is a huge deal. That's exactly what the #livelikelash scholarship fund is setting out to do!
Bravo.
I wanted to take a minute to offer a recap of the #livelikelash scholarship details and provide an official account of where we ended up after closing the seed round for the fund after Crawl. Rather than post this at the end of this year's Crawl thread, I'm starting a dedicated one and am asking the Mods to make it a 'sticky'.
- The scholarship is the brainchild of an anonymous CottonLand member who graciously offered to donate $5000 annually to support the fund. Upon hearing this, the BOD immediately decided to designate the fund as this year's Crawl charity. Prior to Crawl, the leadership of TLCA were engaged to help officially set up and manage the fund, and during the week of Crawl the account was opened and initially funded. The official 'charter' of the fund is as follows:
Live Like Lash Award
Lash Lacoste left this earth in 2022 after a long battle with Multiple Myeloma. He was a vital part of the Toyota Land Cruiser Association community, serving on the Board of Directors of CottonLand Cruisers. Through the kind donations of clubs and members of the TLCA, this fund has been established in his name, to benefit people who are the future of the TLCA.
Lash was not the best student. He was B-C in high school and college. Many scholarships are geared towards top students and many kids do not have the opportunity to capture scholarship money if they aren’t straight A students. This scholarship is different. This scholarship will be awarded to students with a B or high C average, and most importantly, who exhibit the qualities that Lash exhibited throughout his life. These qualities are:
- Humility
- Kindness to all
- Positive outlook
- Patience
- Not easily angered
- Smiling and laughing all the time
- Genuinely care for others and be involved in the community
- Do more than asked
- Give more than given
- Think before speaking
- Listen more than talking
- Protect family
- Love fiercely
With those qualities in mind, TLCA will award at least 1 “scholarship/grant” annually (dependent on fund availability). Children and Grandchildren of TLCA members can apply if they are between 15 and 22 years old. The Live Like Lash award can be used for the following purposes only:
- High School
- College
- Technical School
The winners will be chosen by an appointed committee of TLCA members and the family of Lash Lacoste. Included on the committee will be:
- Chairperson – A member of the TLCA executive Board of Directors
- Representative from CottonLand Cruisers
- Treasurer of TLCA
- Amanda Lacoste and/or Jace Lacoste – Amanda and Jace will not vote, but will be able to review submissions, make recommendations, and help to guide the committee in the selection process.
The award will be announced at the Southern Cruiser Crawl each year, if that event is active. In the event the SCC is no longer an active event, all efforts will be made to award it in person. If it is not possible to present the award in person, then a video conference will be conducted and recorded. Following the presentation of the award, it will be announced in a media release and on the TLCA website.
Be aware that any award may be subject to taxes and winners should research this before accepting an award of any sort.
- TLCA is finalizing the application process now and is preparing a press release from their organization as well. Once everything is finalized on their side, a donation page will be launched where donations can be made online. Until then, or in lieu of making electronic donations (i.e. donations subject to processing fees), checks can be mailed directly using the following info:
Make the checks out to Toyota Land Cruiser Association
Send them to:
TLCA
6834 S. University Blvd #505
Centennial, CO. 80122
*Please add #livelikelash in the memo field to help ensure the checks get routed correctly
- The initial plan is to award $5000 annually while continuing to collect donations.
- After the checks cleared today, the scholarship fund has a starting balance of $40,500.04...enough to take us through the first 8+ years. If we continue to donate annually, there's no reason why this fund cannot continue to honor Lash and what he meant to all of us indefinitely.
Each and every one of you should be proud of what was accomplished here, and you should know how proud and humbled Lash would be. As was stated at the Crawl on Saturday night - the opportunity to change someone's life is a huge deal. That's exactly what the #livelikelash scholarship fund is setting out to do!
Bravo.
