Ellington

The University of Washington’s Dream Project received a $2,000 donation from Bonneville International and the Seattle Seahawks Monday at a ceremony in Guggenheim Hall. The donation is part of a monthly appreciation program by Bonneville Seattle Radio to highlight charities in Seattle.

“I think it’s outstanding that college students are thinking of helping the younger people,” Carl Gardner, vice president and market manager of Bonneville, said to the students. “Thank you so much for your hard work to serve the community.”

Bonneville Seattle executives and UW Interim President Phyllis Wise were in attendance while Seattle Seahawks players and UW alumni Isaiah Stanback and Roy Lewis spoke at the ceremony.

“A lot of people forget where they come from,” Stanback said at the ceremony. “I’m glad that you guys did not. We admire you.”

The Dream Project is a UW student-initiated high-school outreach program that focuses on helping high-school students with the college application process.

The program started in 2005 and currently has more than 300 UW students involved with 16 schools around the Puget Sound area. It now includes scholarship grants from money raised by students involved with the program, and the donations are essential to its continuation.

“If we do not get donations, we would have been in a rough space,” Nancy Tran, co-class leader of the Dream Project said.

The project recently received wide attention from businesses, organizations and the general public as a result of announcements made by Bonneville-owned radio stations, including Seattle’s KIRO radio.

“The visibility that they gave us and the [ability] to emerge throughout the Puget Sound, that is the powerful influence of this [donation],” Cassandra Berhe-Tyner, the other co-class leader of the Dream Project said.

The Dream Project has a long way to go in continuing its service to the community, Stan Chernicoff, faculty advisor of the Dream Project, said. The program hopes to extend its services into all Puget Sound-area high schools.

“We will not be stopping until all of the students in Puget Sound get a chance to go to college,” Chernicoff said. “There is so much more to be done.”

Reach reporter Aina Nadia Rafee at news@dailyuw.com.