LAGRANGE — Kimberly-Clark Corporation today announced the recipients of its 2016 Bright Futures Scholarship Program.

In LaGrange, where Kimberly-Clark has a nonwovens manufacturing facility, a scholarship was awarded to Rebecca Borders, a senior at Lafayette Christian School and the daughter of Philip and Debra Borders. She plans to attend the University of Georgia.

Celebrating its 24th year, the Bright Futures program awards college scholarships to children of Kimberly-Clark employees across North America. Each scholarship is worth up to $20,000 — $5,000 per year for up to four years — for full-time students studying at accredited colleges and universities. Since its inception, the program has distributed over $38 million in scholarships to more than 2,000 students.

This year, 59 scholarships totaling $1.18 million were awarded to students in 13 states and Canada. Recipients were chosen based on academic achievement, leadership, work experience and involvement in extracurricular activities.

“Every year, our selection committee is very impressed with the scholarship applications we receive from the children of our employees,” said Steve Will, product supply plant manager for Kimberly-Clark’s LaGrange mill. “We are pleased to be able to offer a program like Bright Futures to help them pursue higher education and achieve their dreams. There is no more important investment we can make than in our next generation of leaders.”

The average GPA for this year’s scholarship class is 3.88, and awardees will attend such top colleges and universities as Southern Methodist University, Cornell University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Notre Dame and Dartmouth College. Past scholarship recipients have gone on to pursue successful careers in medicine, education, the armed forces and engineering.

Click here for more information on this year’s award recipients.