As a single mom attending college, Sarah Emert worked hard to manage life and classes. From donating plasma, cleaning houses and even substitute teaching, she did everything she could to meet her obligations and pay her bills.

But with a kindergartener to care for, a car that needed four new tires, a faulty laptop and limited availability to generate income due to classes and studying, Emert’s goal of becoming a licensed practical nurse was looking out of reach.

“I had the drive, but unfortunately drive and resources are not the same thing,” she said.

For Emert, it was the OTC Foundation that helped bridge the gap between the two. Annually, the OTC Foundation awards over $650,000 in scholarships to 350-plus students. The scholarship recipients, selected by a committee made up of various members of faculty and staff throughout Ozarks Tech, demonstrate excellent academic performance and a promising future, but need help with the resources to turn their goals into reality.

Thanks to the many generous donors who support the Foundation, Emert benefited from the Musgrave Foundation Scholarship and the Joe and Pat Jenkins Memorial Scholarship.

“For me, the OTC Foundation and these scholarships became a resounding ‘yes’ in a growing sea of ‘no’s,’” Emert said.

Emert, who earned her LPN last year and is set to complete RN training at Ozarks Tech in the spring of 2025, shared her story and gratitude as a guest speaker during this year’s OTC Foundation Scholarship Reception.

Each year, the OTC Foundation hosts the annual Scholarship Reception to honor those who support the Ozarks Tech mission by providing scholarships and to celebrate the students who earn these scholarships. The Scholarship Reception also provides the opportunity for students to meet their donors and share their story of impact.

“I will never have the words to fully express what this generosity means,” Emert said to the packed crowd in attendance for the reception. “But thanks to your support, more students like me will become nurses, scientists and artists – all while still being moms, dads, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons and friends.”

In addition to providing the opportunity for students to share their stories, the OTC Foundation Scholarship Reception highlights the stories of why donors decided to start a scholarship at the college. During this year’s event Mary Beth Hartman, founder and president of Hunter Chase & Associates Inc., was one of several Foundation board members in attendance. Hartman, who has honored both her parents with scholarship funds at Ozarks Tech, recounted how she first became a scholarship donor to the college.

She shared how a family member helped put a graduating senior through nursing school and, because of this gift, the woman went on to head the first hospice in southwest Missouri. That woman was her mother. It was this experience that led Hartman to establish a health care scholarship in honor of her mother Bobbie Ann Hartman-Cobb, who attended the reception with her.

“This (the OTC Foundation) is too good to sit on the sidelines and watch. We work together to change the future,” Hartman said. “You see, it’s not just the recipients who benefit from these scholarships, it is the donors.”

For more information about the OTC Foundation and the more than 100 active scholarships available for the 2024-2025 academic year, visit https://foundation.otc.edu/about/