The Peyton Anderson Foundation awarded 25 Bibb County graduating seniors with scholarships at their annual awards luncheon at Middle Georgia State University. This is the 11th year that the Foundation has helped fund college tuition for deserving students in the Central Georgia community.

“As the Peyton Anderson Foundation marks our 30^th year of philanthropy, we are so proud to honor the high school achievements and bright post-graduate future for our newly named Peyton Anderson Scholarship recipients,” said Karen Lambert, president of the Foundation. “We also reflect on the network of success and family-like support our robust scholarship program continues to achieve, thanks to Mr. Anderson’s strong faith in education and vibrant vision for our community.”

The Peyton Anderson Scholarship is renewable for up to four years. Recipients must maintain a 3.0 grade point average and perform volunteer service in their home or campus communities. The Foundation maintains regular contact with each of the students during their college tenure and continues to maintain support with an alumni network.

The luncheon and awards ceremony included keynote speaker Dr. Reid Hanson, DVM. Dr. Hanson is the grandson of the late Peyton Anderson and serves as a Trustee and Treasurer of the Peyton Anderson Foundation. He is a Macon native and resides in Auburn, Alabama where he is a Professor of Equine Surgery and Sports Medicine in the Department of Clinical Sciences at Auburn University’s College of Veterinary Medicine. He also serves as a business and education consultant to domestic and international businesses worldwide.

Dr. Hanson spoke on his grandfather’s philanthropic legacy on Central Georgia, which is marked this year by the 30^th anniversary of Anderson’s namesake Foundation.

Mercer Chancellor and Peyton Anderson Foundation Trustee Dr. R. Kirby Godsey awarded the Juanita T. Jordan Community Service Leadership Award for 2019-2020 to Filmore Thomas IV, a senior

Mathematics Major finishing a 3+2 Dual Degree program at Fort Valley State University. Thomas has decided to pursue a second bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering and is double minoring in Computer Science and Cyber Security. He could not attend the Awards Luncheon because he was recently chosen as an Apple HBCU Scholar and is spending the next 12 weeks working for Apple in

Sacramento, California. He will serve as an Apple Ambassador for the 2019-2020 academic year.

The Juanita T. Jordan Community Service Leadership Award was established in honor of the first president of the Peyton Anderson Foundation for her many years of service to the Foundation and Central Georgia. The award is presented each year to an outstanding Peyton Anderson Scholar who is a rising senior, in recognition of educational achievements, volunteer service and demonstrated leadership in improving the community for all of its citizens.

As a senior in high school, Thomas developed a website with free scholarship resources to aid other local students in their search for funding assistance. Since beginning college, he has performed over 400

community service hours. These hours have been spent mentoring middle school students twice every week in Starbase Robins’ STEM program, organizing and executing a Saturday park cleanup and voter registration drive and organizing a mobile food pantry in the Fort Valley area to combat food insecurity in underserved neighborhoods. Thomas also regularly spends time at the local park, named for his late grandfather, Filmore Thomas, Jr., cleaning, working and overseeing park activities.