The Cincinnati chapter of the Children's Scholarship Fund received a $224,000 donation from the Third Protestant Memorial Church in Clifton Heights on Tuesday.

        The gift will help the fund continue to give scholarships to children from low-income families who want to attend private or parochial schools. The announcement was made at Marva Collins Prep School in Silverton, one of 104 schools in Greater Cincinnati that enroll students on CSF scholarships.

        Cincinnati Councilman Phil Heimlich co-chairs the scholarship fund with Durk Rorie, a resident active in raising money to improve educational opportunities in the city.

        The fund was started in 1998 by Wal-Mart heir John Walton and financier Ted Forstmann.

        “The point that we emphasize in supporting the Children's Scholarship Fund is we believe this kind of competition will make the public schools better,” Mr. Heimlich said. “We don't see it as draining the public schools but pressing them to do their best.”

        Mr. Rorie and the Rev. Walter F. Crosby of the Third Protestant Memorial Church announced the gift while surrounded by students at the Collins school.

        Mr. Heimlich said Mr. Rorie deserves much credit for raising scholarship funds. Mr. Rorie donated $250,000 of his own money in 1999 and gave another $150,000 this year. He also helped make the connection between the Rev. Mr. Crosby's church and the scholarship fund.

        Last year, the fund awarded 40,000 tuition scholarships to children nationwide, including 500 in Greater Cincinnati. More than 1.25 million families applied for the scholarships nationwide.

        Third Protestant Memorial decided to sell its assets two years ago because of declining membership. Church members decided to give part of the proceeds of that sale to the scholarship fund, in hopes of establishing a “living legacy” for Cincinnati children, the Rev. Mr. Crosby said.

        “We wanted to do this because we felt that it touched so many lives of young people who needed assistance and families who needed opportunities to help make choices,” the Rev. Mr. Crosby said. “It just seemed like a good mission for us.”
       

New campaign launched
        Cincinnati's chapter of the scholarship fund can now launch a new fund-raising campaign to reach its goal of $1.5 million. The fund's national office in New York City matches donations dollar-for-dollar.

        The $1.5 million, when raised, will help the group extend original four-year scholarships to help students continue attending their school of choice through the eighth grade.

        The scholarship fund will also add 44 new scholarship winners to make up for original scholarship recipients who dropped out or moved.

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