GRACES Women's Council campaign to continue

GRACES Women's Council campaign to continue

United Way's GRACES Women's Council hosted a Diaper Drive in November 2014. More than 3,500 diapers were collected and more than $1,000 was donated to this effort. GRACES has decided to provide diapers to low-income families throughout the year. Only one other resource for diapers is available in the community. Families cannot purchase diapers with food stamps, so they must sacrifice another necessity to buy diapers for their babies. Diapers are purchased monthly through the SEMO Food Bank for $0.19 a pound and distributed through various home-visitation programs in Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Scott City, such as Parents as Teachers, Building Blocks through SoutheastHEALTH and Educare. More information is available by calling 573.334.9634.

Visual and performing arts scholarship set

The Charles and Mary Ellen Sharp Scholarship for the Visual and Performing Arts has been established through the Southeast Missouri University Foundation. The Sharps' contribution to establish the scholarship was matched through a matching gift program, part of the foundation's Honoring Tradition -- Inspiring Success Comprehensive Campaign. The recipient of the renewable scholarship will be a student enrolled at Southeast pursuing an undergraduate degree in the visual or performing arts, who has completed 45 credit hours with a minimum 3.0 grade-point average. Dr. Charles Sharp, Southeast professor emeritus, taught history on the Southeast campus for 35 years. Mary Ellen Sharp's career spanned more than 30 years, including 25 years in the Cape Girardeau Public Schools, where she taught high school English and speech, among other activities. She also taught as an adjunct instructor in English and speech communication at Southeast.