SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – The CAPP Fund just completed its sixth year of giving back to any local high school seniors who applied for reimbursement of up to two college application fees! Thanks to the second year of generous support from the Marcella Foundation, the CAPP fund was able to support all 89 fee reimbursements requested by local high school seniors last year! Donating back $5,880 to high school seniors, the CAPP fund totals its 6-year donations at just over $25,000.

Back in 2020, the CAPP Fund made its debut.  A small, all-volunteer nonprofit located in South Lake Tahoe, the CAPP Fund intends to increase access to higher education by helping local high school seniors with the costs of four-year college application fees.  The goal is to give more young adults the opportunity of a college education by taking away the small barrier of the application fees.  In just one month back in 2020, our community stepped up with donations totaling just over $5,000.  Then, with a matching grant from the Latrobe Fund, the CAPP fund was up and running.

The process is easy…students complete a simple application between September and January, submit receipts for their costs of applying to up to 2 colleges, and CAPP Fund reimburses those costs to the students.

And with another amazing bout of generosity, The Marcella Foundation stepped up in 2024 and has helped CAPP Fund continue its mission for the past two years, donating over $10,000 …100 percent of those dollars going back to students.

Also, last year, the CAPP Fund created a scholarship…the CAppED (College Application Extra Dollars) Scholarship.  So, now, instead of reimbursing students 100 percent for each application, the CAPP Fund reimburses the college application fee minus $10… thus, the CAPP fund will now give that $1000 out to one of the students who applied to the CAPP Fund as a scholarship for their continuing education after high school at a four-year university.  

Last year, through a random drawing, Mars Lopez was the lucky recipient.  This year, we will do another random drawing from the recipients who applied for the CAPP Fund, so be on the lookout… the scholarship winner will be announced at the South Tahoe High School scholarship night on April 21!

The CAPP Fund is here to serve the students in our community!  100 percent of all donations go back to the students. We look forward to helping in our own small way with access to education beyond high school!  

For more information, please visit our website at www.cappfund.org.

-CAPP Fund Board: Bridey Heidel, Jennifer Hamburg-Seely, and Kathy Haven.