LAKELAND, Fla. (Oct. 1, 2010) -- Bartow Community Healthcare Foundation, Inc. has established a scholarship that will be awarded annually to students enrolled in the baccalaureate nursing program at Florida Southern College.

The scholarship was created in memory of:

• Mamie Nelle Odum Frisbie, a former member of the Hospital Auxiliary at Polk General Hospital. She was a graduate of the Draughn Business School in Atlanta and a member of the five-generation newspaper and printing family in Bartow. Her husband, Richard Frisbie; sons, Richard Frisbie, Jr., Henry Frisbie, and Mark Frisbie; and daughters, Lisa Cullins and Mariann Holland, all live in Bartow.
• Mary Ellen M. Stidham, who was active in a number of civic activities in Bartow, especially the Bartow Community Healthcare Foundation. She graduated from Notre Dame Academy, Worcester; St. Michaels College in Vermont; and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.  Her husband, Jeffrey W. Stidham, and daughter, Susan Murphy Stidham, live in Bartow.

The Bartow Community Healthcare Foundation is a nonprofit organization that operates the Health and Life Center in Bartow. It is committed to enhancing the community through expanded health-related services. The foundation has been a leader in Bartows economic development.

The Bartow Community Healthcare Foundation Scholarship of Nursing will be awarded to students who have been admitted into the FSC School of Nursing, and preference will be given to students residing in the Bartow and Fort Meade areas. This years recipient is Amber Stolzman, a senior from Bartow. She is the daughter of Kimberly and Paul Warren of Bartow.