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Heffernan Foundation expands Garee Lee Smith scholarships with $10,000 awards
The 2026 scholarship class brings the program’s lifetime total to about $985,000, putting it on track to surpass $1 million within the next one or two award cycles.
Heffernan Insurance Brokers’ charitable arm, the Heffernan Foundation, has named ten recipients of its 2026 Garee Lee Smith Scholarship, with each student receiving $10,000 toward education, according to Insurance Business.
The awards bring the scholarship program’s lifetime total to approximately $985,000 since it began more than two decades ago, with the foundation saying it is on track to cross the $1 million mark within the next award cycle or two.
The scholarship is named for Garee Lee Smith, one of Heffernan’s earliest employees who died in 2004, and the foundation says it was created to support education for relatives connected to Heffernan’s family and workforce.
The outlet reports that Heffernan Foundation selection is made by a volunteer scholarship committee of Heffernan staff, and the foundation’s executive director said the applicant pool grows more competitive each year; the article also notes the foundation’s broader 2026 fundraising calendar and a separate Frank and Lenore Heffernan Scholarship that has committed $300,000 across 15 students over three years.