From left, Coral Knowles, Carlee Groeneveld and Brooke Wright, recipients of the North Fort Myers Civic Association scholarships, hold their checks during a ceremony at the North Fort Myers Recreation Center on Thursday. CHUCK BALLARO

The North Fort Myers Civic Association awarded scholarships to three deserving North Fort Myers teens this year.

Carlee Groeneveld of Mariner, Coral Knowles of Ida Baker and Brooke Wright of Fort Myers were the recipients of $1,000 scholarships, which were officially handed out at the North Fort Myers Recreation Center in a small ceremony.

Knowles said it was a great opportunity to get some college money, as she will attend Florida Atlantic University in the fall. She is as yet undecided for a major.

“There aren’t a lot of people from North Fort Myers at my school, so I thought I had a good chance at it and should apply,” Knowles said. “I thought I had lost at first, because I saw the winners from last year. When I was e-mailed and told I had won I was very excited.”

Wright, who will attend the University of Florida and major in health sciences, also earned a Florida Bright Futures scholarship.

“I was pretty excited when I got it. I’m just trying to get as many as I can and this will take me pretty far to start,” Wright said. “I need as much money as I can get for college so this is a good first step.”

Groeneveld, who will attend South Florida State College and major in sports management, said the money will help her buy books and other items. She also received a Sam Sirianni Scholarship.

“I was surprised because I was rejected for many scholarships, so winning this one was an honor,” Groeneveld said. “I want to be an athletic director.”

The reason there were no recipients from North Fort Myers High School this year is because the three applications received were from students who reside in Cape Coral. The requirement for the scholarship was that they live in North Fort Myers.

The money for the scholarships was raised from the annual Wiffle Ball Bash that was held in April and the Clash of the Irons held in May, with the latter also going for other NFMCA initiatives.

Debby Ballard, chair of the scholarship committee, said that COVID-19 made it difficult to once again get the word out about the scholarships. She said hopefully it will be much easier next year.

“COVID has put a damper on a lot of things. But we’re trying to work around it and I hope next year we’ll be able to get on campus and get more feelers out. We need to better turnout than what we’re getting,” Ballard said. “The girls we got are great, but we have 10 schools we’ve opened it up to and they have to live in North Fort Myers.”

Ballard said she is open to allowing college students to apply for the scholarship, which is not unprecedented. She also wants to get the word out to underclassmen so they know to apply when they get ready to graduate.

For more information about the civic association or the scholarship, visit nfmcivic.org.