Your Connection to Funding the Future

Lenardo Smith

Photo by Brandon Snider

Your Connection to Funding the Future

When Ruby Mae Smith established the Robert V. Smith Scholarship fund in 1999, it was to honor her late husband, Robert. After her death in 2018, Ruby was added to the name of the scholarship by her son, Lenardo Smith, as a tribute to both parents.

When you lose someone you deeply care about, you wonder what’s the best way to remember them. It can be overwhelming and intimidating.

With plans to grow the scholarship’s annual awards, he turned to the Oklahoma City Community Foundation for guidance and support.

One of Smith’s greatest concerns was the amount of impact he would be able to create with what he was able to give. He learned that the Community Foundation works with every donor to design an individual path toward endowment while taking care of every detail along the way.

The impact speaks for itself. In the 2018-19 school year, the Oklahoma City Community Foundation’s scholarship program helped more than 800 Oklahoma students realize their academic success. And with a competitive university graduation rate of 71.65% for bachelor’s and associate degrees, our scholars are among the top students in their field.

The Robert V. and Ruby Mae Smith Scholarship is one of 183 permanently-endowed scholarships at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation that will support students in perpetuity.

In 2019, Harding Charter Preparatory High School graduate Alisha Hemani received the scholarship, helping her pursue a biology degree at the University of Oklahoma.

As a daughter of immigrant parents, I have seen my parents work hard to give my family a comfortable life. They inspired me to work hard and to keep my head up, and by continuing my education I hope to one day give back to them.