Our Mission 

We will engage a community partnership to assure that graduates of Pella Christian High School, Pella Community High School, and homeschool graduates residing in the Pella Community School District, receive financial support for post-secondary education.  It is our objective that every applicant meeting Pella DFS requirements will receive an award.

Our History 

In 1958, an optometrist in Massachusetts observed that the rising costs of a post-secondary education were adversely affecting the ability of local high school graduates to go on and attend college. He came up with a simple, yet very profound, idea. His thought was if each person in his community would contribute one dollar towards a scholarship, it would go a long way to ease the financial burden of pursuing a post-secondary degree.

With that idea in mind, the Dollars for Scholars program was born. Scholarship America later formed to administer the Dollars for Scholars program and is now the largest non-profit scholarship program in the United States. In 2000, members of the Pella Community Foundation board of directors started a local chapter of Dollars for Scholars. In 2001, Pella Dollars for Scholars was awarded the coveted National Golden Tassel Award, presented each year to the most outstanding new Dollars for Scholars chapter in the nation.

Today 

Pella Dollars for Scholars continues to grow and is marking its 24th year of providing financial support for graduates of both Pella Community and Pella Christian High Schools. Since our beginning, Pella Dollars for Scholars has awarded 3,383 scholarships for more than $1,437,000 We are looking forward to awarding more scholarships to Pella area graduating seniors in 2024

We could not accomplish our mission without the invaluable support of donors in the Pella community. Their generous contributions send a strong message to our graduates:

Pella values education. We are behind you and
 wish you well in your future!