The Stumptown Scholars story began in 2015. That’s when small business owners Mary Ruth & Michael Hanna decided to award college scholarships as a way to give back to the community that supported their business. At the time, the Hanna’s owned Mattress Lot & Stumptown Mattress located at NE 24th and Sandy Boulevard. The original scholarship was known as Mattress Lot’s Dream Big Scholarship. The notion of “giving back” became the foundation for the Hanna’s vision of supporting Eastside students pursue higher education.
Mattress Lot awarded its first scholarship of $1000 to a Grant High School student in 2015. Since then, they expanded the program to include seven Eastside Portland Public Schools with annual awards of $20,000. Total scholarship giving is now almost $80,000. Stumptown Scholars works directly with school counselors at each high school to ensure graduating seniors who meet our criteria can apply. Typically, fifty students apply each year. Volunteer reviewers read every application. It’s always a tough choice because of the number of excellent submissions.
In order to expand and grow the program, the Hanna’s decided to form a non-profit corporation with a seasoned board of directors who share their vision for educational opportunity. The Hanna’s formed Stumptown Scholars in 2021 and recruited talented, smart board members with high-level professional experience managing non-profits. Current board members have a wide range of expertise including a former CEO of a major environmental non-profit and a former fund raiser/development manager of an international aid non-profit.
Stumptown Scholars
3439 NE Sandy Blvd
Box 643
Portland, OR 97232
