NCP Scholarship Fund
Instituted in memory of Angela Kania

This fund has been establishes in honor of Angela Kania, a young woman who had hoped to participate in an NCP Learning Tour, but whose life was cut short before being able to do so (read more about Angela below). The purpose of the fund is to help young people take part in Learning Tours who otherwise would not be able to do so, due to financial considerations.

Those wishing to apply for a scholarship should contact NCP with their request, along with a short statement about their situation and their interest in participating in a Learning Tour. The fund is designed to provide partial assistance to qualified applicants.

To make a donation to this fund, send a check or donate online with the designation: Angela Kania Fund.

The following remembrance was provided by Angela’s mother:

A young girl was walking along a beach upon which thousands of starfish had been washed up during a terrible storm.  When she came to each starfish, she would pick it up, and throw it back into the ocean. 

A man approached her and said, “Why are you doing this?  Look at this beach!  You can’t save all these starfish.  You can’t begin to make a difference!”

The young girl bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean.  Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference to that one!”

Based on original by Loren Eiseley…the understanding that we hold in our hands the power to change a life, a mind, or a circumstance today…right now… is the powerful insight and motivator that Angela lived by. 

Angela Faith Kania (1992-2009) age 16, beloved daughter, sister, granddaughter, and friend went home to be with God who filled her heart and guided her life on October 14, 2009, following an automobile accident.  Angela was an active member of Lebanon Church of the Brethren and a member of the Shenandoah District Church of the Brethren Youth Cabinet, both of the beautiful Shenandoah Valley in Virginia

This scholarship fund is fitting to honor Angela’s faith and love for her Lord, her outgoing personality and generous spirit, her interest in other people and different cultures, her affection for children, and her orientation towards the human services.  Since Angela never made her planned Learning Tour, this scholarship is meant to bring honor and glory to her Lord and to help others who desire to commit to this courageous experience.

Although Angela is no longer with us in person here today, this does not mean that her spirit, her zest for life, and her compassionate heart don’t live on.  And since Angela cannot continue her dedication to giving here on earth without my help and your help, we are excited to assist others who possess her same passions.  In her own words from an article she wrote on compassion, Angela stated:

“Compassion is getting up to do something to make the world a better place.”

I challenge you to remember these words as you go forward greeting life like Angela always did: with a smile on your face and a heart filled with compassion, love, and faith…making “a difference to that one…one of the least of these brothers or sisters of mine (Matthew 25:40).”