Jenkintown/Germantown Academy seniors receive $20K scholarship from Green Family Foundation and Firstrust Bank

Marta Neidich, a senior at Jenkintown High School, and Lucas Philip, a senior at Germantown Academy in Fort Washington, have each received a $20,000 college scholarship on behalf of the Green Family Foundation and Firstrust Bank.

In addition to their scholarships, Neidich and Philip were presented a “swag bag,” which included a sweatshirt from the college or university they will be attending and a poster version of their winning essay.

From the foundation’s announcement:

For 55 years, the Green Family Foundation and Firstrust Bank have provided a pathway to achieving higher education for civic-minded high school seniors in the Greater Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley regions through the Samuel A. Green Scholarship Program. During a celebration at the Firstrust Bank Club at the Philadelphia Eagles stadium on May 29, the Green Family Foundation and Firstrust Bank awarded $360,000 to 18 college-bound students.

The Samuel A. Green Scholarship Program, one of the region’s most renowned high school scholarship programs, granted each winning student a $20,000 scholarship, to be evenly distributed over the course of four years, to seniors who crafted personal essays about how they will apply their education to impact their communities.

“When I think about the number of young adults we’ve supported through the Samuel A. Green Scholarship Program, more than 1,000 students, I am amazed by the impact and honored to uphold the legacy of my grandfather and Firstrust’s Founder, Samuel A. Green,” said Richard J. Green, Executive Chairman of Firstrust Bank’s Board of Directors and Trustee of the Green Family Foundation.

Samuel A. Green, founder of Firstrust Bank, believed in the importance of receiving a college education and using it to give back to the community. These values have served as core pillars for the Bank for 90 years and the Foundation since its inception in 2005. The Samuel A. Green Scholarship Program honors young people in the region who reflect these principles.

“At the Green Family Foundation and Firstrust, we want to help remove barriers for our region’s bright young minds to pursue higher education, so they can become catalysts for positive change in our communities. That’s why we’ve decided to provide $20,000 scholarships for students over the course of four years rather than just during their first year. We are proud to continue my grandfather’s legacy through this scholarship program for the past 55 years. In just the past four years alone, we’ve awarded more than $1 million in scholarships,” said Green.

Recipients were selected based on their written responses to a topic that is rooted in the mission of the Foundation, “How will you use your college education to make a substantial impact in your community?” and a letter of recommendation attesting to their demonstrated leadership. Nearly 440 students applied for the scholarships this year.

The 2024 cohort of Samuel A. Green Scholars also included the following students:

Bucks County

• Mariam Ly, Pennridge High School

Chester County

• Sophia Fontecchio, Downingtown STEM Academy
• Vamsi Krishna Nandamuri, Downingtown STEM Academy
• Foram Shah, B. Reed Henderson High School

Delaware County

• Mackenzie Duffy, Villa Maria Academy High School
• Aditi Halpe, Strath Haven High School
• Srilekha Mamidala, Garnet Valley High School

Montgomery County

• Tarun Iyengar, North Penn High School
• Katherine Smith, The Baldwin School
• Zachary Hunter, Upper Dublin High School

Philadelphia County

• Justin Cheeseman, Father Judge High School
• Hser Nay Christ, Academy at Palumbo
• Elda Sinaj, Northeast High School
• Nathalia Sosa, Julia R. Masterman Laboratory and Demonstration School

New Castle County, DE

• Iveena Mukherjee, Charter School of Wilmington
• Lawrence Sheridan, Mount Pleasant High School

About The Samuel A. Green Scholarship ProgramThe Samuel A. Green Scholarship Program was named in loving memory of Firstrust’s founder Samuel A. Green. In the spirit of his legacy, in just the past 4 years alone, the program has awarded more than $1 million in scholarships to students in our communities. The most recent scholarship winners were chosen from nearly 440 qualified applicants from the region.About The Green Family FoundationThe Green Family Foundation was established in 2005 by Samuel A. Green’s son and daughter-in-love, Daniel and Florence (“Flo”). Daniel was the Chairman and CEO of Firstrust Bank from 1970-2005 and Chairman Emeritus until his death in 2020. Richard J. Green, their son, serves as Trustee for the Foundation. The Green Family Foundation is dedicated to cultivating and investing in innovative and impactful solutions that foster inclusive and interconnected communities so that individuals and communities flourish and reach their full potential.

About Firstrust Bank

Founded in 1934, with assets of approximately $5 billion, Firstrust Bank is the region’s largest family-owned financial institution, one of the region’s largest and strongest full-service commercial banks, and one of the most consistently top-performing banks in the Nation. Founded by Samuel A. Green, who began the business in his mother’s kitchen in South Philadelphia, Firstrust is currently in its third generation of family management, operating as Philadelphia’s Hometown Bank® for 90 years. Firstrust offers a broad range of retail and commercial banking products and services to individuals, businesses, and institutions. In commercial banking, Firstrust provides a wide variety of solutions, including commercial real estate finance, business banking, asset-backed lending, and deposit and treasury management services. Firstrust meets the need of its consumer customers by offering a full range of deposit, lending, and residential mortgage products. Firstrust is a Small Business Administration (SBA) Preferred Lender, is a Top Workplaces employer, the Official Bank of the Philadelphia Eagles and serves its customers through 18 branch banking offices located in Southeastern PA, Cherry Hill, NJ, and Towson, MD. For more information, visit firstrust.com or call 800-220-BANK. Member FDIC.
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