Langley Environmental Partners Society [LEPS] has a bursary fund which helps students pursue advanced education in the environmental field.
Students must have been affiliated with LEPS through working, volunteering or training. The bursary program was established with the assistance of the VanCity Community Foundation which holds the fund in trust. The fund is an endowment based institution where the Foundation gets their money on a year to year basis from individuals and organizations who make gifts in perpetuity for bursary disbursements.
The creation of the bursary fund was the idea of former Township councilor Mel Kositsky who won a $1,000 scholarship from BC Hydro at the Union of British Columbia Municipalities Convention in 1998 and then donated it to LEPS to a create a fund which aims to hit $15,000.
"The importance of continuing one's education can never be understated,” said Mel Kositsky, former Langley Township Councillor. “Learning about the environment and how to build sustainable communities has become more important than ever before. With the increasing costs of education, having the LEPS scholarship fund available encourages volunteers to pursue a better future to the benefit of all of us.”
He wanted to see a self-sustaining bursary program that would focus on promoting environmental studies to the citizens of the Township of Langley. Sarah Atherton, Interim Executive Director of LEPS, echoed this sentiment: “It’s so important to engage and empower youth to create meaningful, positive action for our community and environmental health, it is our hope that this bursary fund opens a few extra doors for the next generation to become actively engaged in environmental stewardship.”
For more information on the Ecobursary, please go to http://www.leps.bc.ca/programs/education/leps-bursary-fund.