Published: September 11, 2009 09:26 pm      

Burton recipient of RLC's Warren-Holler Memorial Scholarship

From Rend Lake College

INA — Rend Lake College Foundation CEO Pat Kern announced today that nursing student Autumn Burton is the recipient of the Warren-Holler Memorial Scholarship. The scholarship is for children or grandchildren of St. Mary's Good Samaritan Regional Health Center employees, retirees and volunteers. It is a new RLCF Health Care Scholarship memorializing the grandparents of President Mike Warren.

The benefactors of the $1,000 memorial award had remained anonymous until now. Mike and Brenda Warren established the scholarship to honor his grandparents who lived into their late 80s and early 90s. His grandparents meant a lot to him growing up and into his adult life.

"All four of his grandparents were patients, at one time or another, at Good Sam and received excellent, compassionate, skilled nursing care," stated Brenda Warren. "This scholarship is our way of acknowledging that care and making sure that others will be prepared and available to continue that high standard of care."

The scholarship is earmarked for a child or grandchild of a full-time, part-time active or retired employee, or volunteer at SGMS. Burton is a 2008 graduate of Mt. Vernon Township High School, the daughter of Randy and Melanie Burton of Belle Rive, and is pursuing an associate’s degree in nursing at RLC. She is currently in her third week of classes in RLC's Licensed Practical Nursing program. Melanie Burton is a full-time registered nurse at SGMS and a graduate of the LPN and ADN nursing programs at RLC.

"I want to say thank you very much to the Warrens for their help and generosity," Autumn Burton said. "This is really going to relieve a lot of stress with money and the economy being down. It's one less thing to worry about and it will be really helpful for me and my parents. I don't qualify for loans and it's hard to pay for school."

She said she feels pride in following in her mother's footsteps.

"My mom is a very hard worker and she enjoys her field. I've always found anatomy very, very interesting. I think it would be a great career for me to be around a surgery unit."

On her application for the scholarship, Burton stated that she chose nursing "to enjoy a challenging and rewarding career helping others."

Her plans are to transfer from RLC to Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville and possibly pursue a master's degree focusing on anesthesia.

"I want to be a surgical nurse or on the heart team," she stated.

In her letter recommending Burton for the scholarship, St. Mary's Good Sam Perioperative Services Manager Melinda Melton stated, "Autumn is a dedicated, intelligent, ambitious young woman. ... Autumn will excel in her chosen career. She has many attributes that will make her successful in this field ... her caring nature and confidence in herself. As a health care worker myself, I see our future in young adults like Autumn."