Tri Star Career Compact and Rod and Barb Carpenter held a brief press conference Thursday to announce the establishment of an Endowed Scholarship Fund for Tri Star Career Compact Students. Mr. Carpenter announced he will be running his ninth marathon to benefit career tech students. In a written press release the Carpenters explained: (See highlighted area below for ways you can help too!)

"Barb and I are excited to announce that Marathon IX will be raising money for an Endowed Scholarship Fund for Tri Star Career Compact Students to further

their education. The fund will be held at the Mercer County Civic Foundation in Celina. These scholarships will be based heavily on need. We also will look at

their character and willingness to work hard. The selection committee will be made up of Tri Star Staff, Barb, and me. Barb & I will have the final decision on

the scholarships to ensure what I am telling you is carried out. The Tri Star staff knows these students better than anyone which is why they will be part of this

process. The name of the fund will be “Tri Star Eternal Scholarships.”

Barb & I will have skin in the game, too, as we will once again do a 10% match on the first $40,000 raised.

An Endowed Scholarship Fund is a fund that will be giving forever. We hope to raise $100,000 or more. The fund allows us to give away 3 ½ % of the fund per

year. So if we raise $100,000 we can give out $3500 or more each year going forward. Based on past history the fund will continue to grow thus allowing

more to be given out over time.

Barb & I believe the award winners should know where this money came from. So each winner will also be given a list of every business and person that has

given to make their scholarship possible. We hope that this will not only be inspiring to them but also encourage them to remain local post graduation.

Most businesses in this area can benefit from Tri Star students. Tri Star offers programs for Adult Education, Agricultural Industrial Tech, Animal Health,

Automotive Tech, Career Based Intervention-CE & SM, Career Based, Intervention/P3 - Tri Star, Construction, Early Childhood Education, Engineering Tech, Graphic

Communications, I.T. Cybersecurity, Interactive Media, Marketing Education, Med Prep, Precision Machining, REC Tech, and

Welding. Barb and I toured the Compact and were very impressed. Without a doubt, when these kids complete their time at Tri Star, they are more

than prepared to further their education.

In conjunction with this benefit, I am signed up and plan to run the Kiawah Island Marathon in South Carolina on December 11th. We plan to locate a

fallen veteran to honor by carrying our American Flag during the race. I also plan to run the Grand Lake Half Marathon on September 25th and carry our

American Flag for local fallen Police officer, Kelley “Mitch” Mitchell Richards of Celina. I qualified and ran the 1987 Boston Marathon when I was 33 years old. I

am now 67 years old.

This is our 9th God driven benefit and this region and a few outside our region have raised $236,689.24 to date. Our last benefit for The Choosing Life

Pregnancy Center raised $65,796.09. Because so many businesses benefit from Tri Star students and will in the future, we feel the $100,000+ goal is attainable.

Praise the Lord!!

We hope you will consider this Scholarship benefit as it truly benefits our area and regional businesses. Keeping quality people in our area is a plus and makes

our region an even better place to live.

You can join us 3 ways:
1) by making your checks out to the Mercer County Civic Foundation and send to Rod or Barb Carpenter at 2315 Eaglebrooke Circle (yes we moved), Celina, OH 45822. MEMO LINE: Put “Tri Star Eternal.”

2) You may PayPal direct to us at paypal.me/boston2639.

3) You may Venmo to me at www.venmo.com/Rod-Carpenter -4 . Sending to us enables us to log your check to keep track of all money received. Your check will be handed over to the Foundation within ten days of receipt. 100% of all contributions go to the Scholarship Fund.

You may direct questions to Rod at 419-236-9136. If you know of anyone that may have interest in joining us in this ETERNAL Scholarship Fundraiser please

pass this info to them or have them contact Rod. Thank you so much for considering this 9th benefit."

Thankfully,

Rod & Barb Carpenter

Tri Star Career Compact would like to thank the Carpenters for their most generous spirit and gift, and for their willingness and hard work to pursue this endeavor. We are looking forward to being able to offer this scholarship(s) yearly to our students! Contact Tim Buschur with questions at 419-586-7060.