It all began three years ago when the Jesus Power Assembly of God Church on Cleveland Avenue, Columbus, Ohio, established a Scholarship Award Program to help high school graduates go to college. The one-time award ranges from $500 to $1500 a student, relative to availability of funds, and number of graduates competing for the award in any given period. To further encourage academic excellence among high school students, Mr. Ernest Opuni of Pri-Value Agency created the Academic Excellence Award in 2008. “The objective is to present a Laptop Computers to the graduating senior with the highest grade point average (GPA) in class,” explains Ernest Opuni, CEO and Financial Analyst, in his 1150 Morse Road office. “I pray for strength and guidance in our effort to help promote academic excellence among the youth. And with the help of Jesus Power Assembly of God Church, we can do it.”
Call it philanthropism, if you would. But whatever the connotation, philanthropism is a rare trait of humanity in this day and age, more so the iconoclastic society in which we live today. Philanthropism, it is said, is the innate quality of groups, individuals, or organizations to help promote human wellbeing through extra-ordinary acts of kindness, be they gifts, financial, or otherwise. And for Mr. Ernest Opuni of Columbus, it is the inclination to help make life better for youths by way of education.
“I believe in academic excellence,”
The first Laptop Award went to Mercy Opoku Mensah, a Westerville South High School college-bound graduate awaiting admission for the Fall 2009 school year. Ernest sponsors the Academic Excellence Award Program himself. At a special Sunday Service ceremony in June this year, Ernest, as friends and family affectionately call him, presented another portable laptop computer he bought and paid for—all by himself—to Abigail Abenaa Oppong, a Northland High School graduate with a 3,7 GPA. Abigail’
“I don’t know what to say…how to express thanks to Ernest and the Church for this great award,” said Beatrice Oppong, a staunch member of Jesus Power Assembly of God Church, Columbus, “I pray God richly bless Ernest for his generosity. And may the church continue to grow with the mission of educating the youth through scholarship awards.”
