May 2013 one Sweetwater High School student will receive scholarship funding for Tennessee Wesleyan College thanks to the generous donation of Pamela Clark of State Farm Insurance Agency in Sweetwater, Tenn. The Goldie Barefield Annual Scholarship will honor Clark’s late father, Goldman “Goldie” Barefield, a native of Etowah who served in the U.S. Army National Guard.

“I want to honor my father’s legacy with this scholarship,” said Clark, who graduated from Tennessee Wesleyan in 1988 with a bachelor’s in business management and accounting. “Although my father didn’t have the opportunity to pursue an education of his own, he always encouraged and supported my sisters and I to complete our college degrees.”

Clark’s donation to the college will annually help fund a Sweetwater High student’s first year at Tennessee Wesleyan.

“Scholarships helped me attend Tennessee Wesleyan and having the opportunity to honor my father’s memory with a scholarship for a student to attend my alma mater means the world to me,” said Clark.

A review committee established by Clark will annually review applicants for the scholarship. The award criteria for an applicant to be considered include academic excellence, leadership and service within the school and the community.

“It’s always great when a community leader or business leader steps up to the plate and provides a scholarship award, especially to an institution like Tennessee Wesleyan, which Sweetwater High School has always had a good relationship with,” said David Watts, Sweetwater High School principal.

“Scholarships like this one could help students who academically meet the criteria and need an avenue like this to help them get a college education. It’s a win-win for the community and it’s a win-win for Pamela Clark who gets to honor her father with generosity and charity in his name.”

Barefield’s reputation for caring and kindness, which inspired Clark’s decision to fund a Tennessee Wesleyan scholarship, is well-known throughout the local community.

“Goldie encouraged his daughters and cared deeply for all his children and his wife Joretta,” said Paul Willson, chairman and CEO of Citizen's National Bank and a family friend of Clark’s who will be on the scholarship’s inaugural selection committee. “To remember his kindness through a Tennessee Wesleyan scholarship is monumental for Pamela and her family.”

Tennessee Wesleyan College, founded in Athens, Tenn., in 1857, is a private liberal arts institution affiliated with the Holston Conference of the United Methodist Church. The college’s dedicated faculty and staff believe in providing the resources and support students need to become socially responsible, intellectually skilled and spiritually developed members of our community. For additional information about Tennessee Wesleyan College, visit www.twcnet.edu, become a TWC fan on Facebook or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/TWCnews.