Chelsea Youth Club establishes scholarship to honor Kristi Ingram

Chelsea resident Kristi Ingram was known around the community for her positivity, involvement and perseverance. After her death in November 2017, individuals rallied around the Ingram family, but they looked for a way to reflect Kristi Ingram's legacy.

Chelsea Youth Club board member Brad Herrington had an idea — the KBI Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship, which gets its name from Kristi Ingram’s initials, would be for Chelsea High School seniors that exemplified the same qualities Kristi Ingram did.

“The biggest thing was wanting to give back to the community that Kristi obviously loved and was a huge part of it,” said CYC executive board president Wade Dockery. “And making sure that her name, her legacy were always a part of Chelsea.”

Members of the CYC board started brainstorming over the holiday season, and once the idea was firmed up, they reached out to David Ingram, Kristi’s husband and a Chelsea City Council member.

“It was kind of odd because normally, anything that goes on with the CYC, I’m right in the middle of it, and it’s been like that forever,” Ingram said. Once they told him the idea, he said, he was pretty emotional. “I was moved by the idea of them doing that because that really wasn’t something that I had thought of.”

Each year, the CYC will present two $2,000 scholarships to graduating members of the senior class, one to a female student and one to a male student. In order to qualify, applicants must meet the following requirements:

• Have a 3.0 or higher GPA
• Be in good academic and moral standing at CHHS
• Have been selected into a college, university of technical school and plan to attend after graduating
• Have completed five hours of community service

The application, available at the Chelsea Youth Club website, has space for applicants to fill out their activities and honors, Chelsea Youth Club experience and a personal statement. Applicants do not have to be former CYC participants, Herrington said, but they are looking for students who exemplify Kristi Ingram’s character.

“We ended up taking that [CYC participation requirement] out, but we still want someone who’s involved in the community, who’s giving back to others,” Herrington said. “I think we’re more looking for somebody who has that smile on their face no matter what they’re facing.”

Applications for the scholarship are available on the Chelsea Youth Club website, and the deadline to apply is March 1. All applications will be reviewed by a scholarship committee and that committee will vote on the male and female recipients. The scholarship winners will be announced at CHHS’s Senior Awards Day on May 15, and their scholarships will be sent to the school they plan to attend in the fall.

While the scholarship will be supported by CYC, it will rely on donations to continue over the years, Dockery said. They plan to host basketball, baseball and golf tournaments in the future, and they will accept donations from individuals and businesses.

“As we get the ball rolling, there will be a lot more opportunities for the local Chelsea public to get involved, as well as other communities,” Herrington said.

For more information on the scholarship or making a donation, go to chelseaparkandrec.com and click “KBI Memorial Scholarship.”