On Monday, April 1, Danny Hayes presented a check for $5,000 to Suzanne Whisler, the President of the Auburn Public Schools Foundation.
In honor of Danny’s late-brother Chris Hayes, the Hayes family donated the money to create the Chris Hayes Memorial scholarship. The scholarship will be available to one student at Auburn High School and is worth $500 to be used for whatever college expenses the student might need it for. “We want to help students in any way we can, whether that be for food, lodging, books, whatever,” Danny said, “and it doesn’t matter what college the student goes to, either. University, State or Community, we just want to give a little to help them on their way.”
The scholarship will be available for application during the 2023-2024 school year, and Hayes hopes to continue its availability for 24 more years. As for qualifications, there is really only one. The student applying for the scholarship must be involved in some sort of extracurricular, whether that be sports, music, speech, or any other sort of activity. “We want to award students for their involvement and leadership, as well as kindness and compassion,” Danny explained, “Chris stood for all of those things, and was constantly involved with activities other than classes. We’re hoping to inspire more of that with this scholarship.”
