The Rhode Island College Foundation announced recently that it has received $500,000 in funding from the Feinstein Foundation, an organization founded by Rhode Island philanthropist and humanitarian Alan Shawn Feinstein.

This significant gift, which will be allocated to the Feinstein Junior Leadership Scholarship Endowment Fund, builds upon Feinstein’s previous gifts and brings the fund’s current total to $1.25 million. The money will be used to support the distribution of scholarships to incoming Rhode Island College first-time freshmen, with preference given to those who identify as intended education majors.

“We are enhancing our Feinstein School of Education and Human Development to better meet the changing needs of the students in our state,” said Frank D. Sánchez, Rhode Island College president. “We remain the largest provider of teacher certifications in the state, and this transformational gift will provide a pathway for incoming freshmen who are interested in education to pursue their dreams.”

Scholarship awards will be given to students who have participated in the Feinstein Junior Scholar Program at one of the 166 elementary and middle schools throughout the state. There will be a community service requirement as a part of the award.

“There is nothing more important to me than our junior scholars getting a quality education and using that education to give back to the community,” said Dr. Feinstein. “It is my hope that, through these scholarships, we can make college more accessible to those of my former junior scholars who wish to join the noble profession of teaching and make a positive difference in lives of others.”

The gift is one of several noteworthy awards made to the Rhode Island College Foundation in recent months. Rhode Island College was recently awarded a $455,550 grant from the Champlin Foundation to renovate the Instrument Room and chemistry teaching labs in the John Clarke Science Building. In addition, Tufts Health Plan Foundation awarded over $250,000 to the Rhode Island College Foundation to support Age-Friendly Rhode Island, a statewide coalition working to help Rhode Island cities and towns become better places to grow up and grow old.