Our Memories. Our Scholarship.

Do you know someone that’s changed your life? Someone you’ll never forget? Our family has many, and Sharen and Mila Kohute are at the top of the list. Even though they are no longer with us, their impact on us remains. We want their names to remain as well. So we started this scholarship. In their name. In their honor.

The Sharen and Mila Kohute Scholarship will be given out annually to a female, first-generation high school seniors or college students living in the following states: Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, or Virginia.

What do we mean by “first-generation“? It means that their parents, or grandparents, did not attend college. It means they will become the first generation in their family to go to college. Going to college can often be the opportunity that breaks the cycle of generational poverty. We know this personally. So we want to help provide more of those opportunities.

Meet Mila & Sharen:

Yeah, that Smile…

That smile is precisely how Mila made us feel. She was our first child, and she changed everything. With Mila, we began seeing life like never before. We did everything to capture that smile.

We lost Mila when she was 7 months old. That phone call you never want to receive. That sequence of events. And every day that followed. There are no words. Just heartbreak.

What would Mila look like today? Her personality? And what about her trademark giggle? Those are questions that we will never be able to answer. We can’t watch as her dreams come true. Can’t watch her fall and get back up. We can’t impact her future. She had unlimited potential that can never be realized.

But, we can remember Mila. We can keep saying her name and telling people about her. We can also help other people in honor of her. Mila represents unrealized potential. By creating a scholarship, we can help high-school students as they transition to college and unlock their future potential.

And “Penn State Grammy”.

Sharen (aka “Penn State Grammy”) never had it easy. Ever. She grew up in rural poverty. Her adult years were spent as a single mom working multiple jobs daily for minimum wage. She never gave up when hard times came (and they often did). She always kept grinding. She always found a way.

Sharen taught us that work is hard. And to always work hard.

Our Penn State Grammy spend the last part of her life battling cancer. First, she beat breast cancer. Ten years later, colorectal cancer. She beat that too – at first. But it came back. Everywhere. Aggressively.

Ultimately, Penn State Grammy’s body was not strong enough for another round of chemotherapy. Her cancer spread so quickly and aggressively that it left us far less time with her than we had hoped. For someone who lived such a hard life, we wish she had more peace in her last days and weeks.

Why do we call her Penn State Grammy? Her work ethic was contagious, and it influenced her son to pursue a dream and become a first-generation college graduate from Penn State University.

Scholarship Overview:

Amount: $1000

Awarded: Twice a Year

Gender: Female

States: OH, PA, WV, VA

Education: H.S. Senior

Legacy: First Generation

Criteria: Written Essay

Previous Winners: 7

Potential +
Hard Work =
Unlimited Impact

We think the combination of potential + hard work is a formula that can change someone’s life. This scholarship will fuel the potential that creates impact.

Mila represents that potential. An untapped potential that we want to help unlock for new college students. Sharen represents hard work. She personified it.

Interested in applying for our scholarship?

Apply Today

Accepting applicants for April 2025 soon.
Winners will be announced in April 2025.

Funding Overview:

Total Raised: $11,415

Our family will contribute $1000 each year to ensure that at least one scholarship is awarded every year. But we’re hopeful that we can do more than that—more recipients, more funding per recipient. To do more, we need help from others, we need to jump out of our comfort zone, and we need to fundraise.

Please consider a donation…

Donate Today

All donations are 100% tax-deductible.