[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 1]
[Senate]
[Pages 88-89]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        TRIBUTE TO BONNIE NICKOL

 Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Bonnie Nickol of Little Rock, Arkansas, who has committed herself to 
helping working families in Arkansas through the Arkansas Single Parent 
Scholarship Fund.
  Bonnie's first involvement with the scholarship fund came in 1997. 
The fund's director, Ralph Nesson, knowing of Bonnie's interest in 
education, introduced her to several of the people who benefit from 
this statewide network of scholarship programs that help single parents 
get the education they need to better provide for their families. 
Bonnie was touched by the efforts of these women and men to raise 
children, hold steady jobs, and attend college--and she resolved to 
help.
  And help she did. Upon learning that the Pulaski County Single Parent 
Scholarship Fund was able to offer only about 10 scholarships per year, 
and that many deserving single parents were being turned away due to a 
lack of funds and resources. Bonnie joined the board of directors and 
committed herself to expanding the program. From 1998 until 2002, 
Bonnie chaired the fund's board of directors. Under her leadership, the 
fund began to grow dramatically. In 1998, the fund awarded 16 
scholarships worth a total of $8,000. By 2002, the fund was awarding 98 
scholarships worth more than $63,000. That's an increase of 600 percent 
in just four years. On top of that, the amount of each scholarship 
awarded increased by $150, meaning that every recipient is now enjoying 
a more generous benefit than ever before. The Single Parent Scholarship 
Fund has also raised its profile by pursuing corporate and foundation 
grants and through private fund-raising events.
  In addition to increasing the fund's size, Bonnie has spearheaded the 
effort to provide enhanced support services to scholarship recipients. 
Among these services are volunteer mentors and loaned computers to help 
ensure student success. In addition, Bonnie made a point of forging 
personal relationships with many of the scholarship recipients, meeting 
with each of them once per semester to encourage them and seek 
feedback; coordinating the selection process to ensure that 
scholarships are awarded in a fair, timely, and efficient manner; and 
continually working to improve service available to recipients.
  These efforts are paying real dividends for the fund in terms of 
success. Since January 1998, an astonishing 94 percent of scholarship 
recipients have either graduated or are still in school

[[Page 89]]

working toward their degrees. Fifty-eight parents have graduated since 
1998. That's a tremendous record of success, for which Bonnie and all 
of the other volunteers with the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship 
Fund can be justifiable proud.
  Bonnie Nickol will retire from the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship 
Fund this year, and while her leadership will be sorely missed, others 
who share Bonnie's vision and commitment will most certainly follow. In 
the meantime, she continues to provide her valuable leadership and 
volunteer energy for a number of groups in Arkansas, including New 
Futures for Youth, the Jewish Federation of Arkansas, and the Artspace 
Artists Cooperative. But of all her contributions, her most impressive 
may be the work that she's done with the Arkansas Single Parent 
Scholarship Fund, work that has made it possible for dozens of single 
parents in Arkansas to get their degrees and improve their job 
prospects for the future. I salute Bonnie's efforts, and I hope that 
others will look to her as an example of how one person can lend their 
time, talents, and energy to make a difference in his or her community 
and in the lives of others.

                          ____________________