FORT MYERS, Fla. (Jan. 7, 2015) – Melanie Holaway has joined the Southwest Florida Community Foundation as scholarship coordinator.

In her new position, Holaway will oversee the Community Foundation’s annual scholarship program. Through the Community Foundation, approximately $400,000 in scholarship money is available through 37 scholarships for local high-school students and 22 scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students from Lee, Charlotte, Glades, Hendry and Collier counties.

Originally from Nebraska, Holaway earned her bachelor’s degree in business administration and travel/tourism from the University of Nebraska. She moved to Southwest Florida 20 years ago and worked as a preschool teacher at Lee Memorial Healthpark and Child Care of Southwest Florida’s early childhood program at Edison College. She most recently served as the director of provider services at the Early Learning Coalition of Southwest Florida where she led the Provider Services Team for eight years coordinating quality early-learning environments, monitoring programs and leading quality initiatives such as Hearing and Vision Screening for young children.

She is the vice-chair of the Friends of Cayo Costa State Park Steering Committee where she is involved in fundraising to preserve, promote and protect Cayo Costa State Park.

As leaders, conveners, grant makers and concierges of philanthropy, the Southwest Florida Community Foundation is a foundation built on community leadership with an inspired history of fostering regional change for the common good in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. The Community Foundation, founded in 1976, connects donors and their philanthropic aspirations with evolving community needs. With assets of more than $80 million, the Community Foundation has provided more than $60 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves. Last year, the Foundation granted more than $2.8 million to nonprofit organizations supporting education, animal welfare, arts, healthcare and human services. The Foundation granted $782,000 in nonprofit grants including more than $400,000 in regional community impact grants and additional $450,000 in scholarship grants.

For more information about the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, call 239-274-5900 or visit www.floridacommunity.com.