Award-winner following in family’s footsteps | Palatka Daily News, Palatka, Florida

Lily Maxwell, a recipient of a scholarship from Georgia-Pacific, stands with her family as she holds a plaque recognizing her win.
Positively Putnam FL

A Palatka student is the third member of her family to receive a four-year scholarship from the Georgia-Pacific Foundation.

There were 190 applications received for the 2021 Employees Children Scholarship program. The Georgia-Pacific Foundation awards up to 50 scholarships each year to children of employees, of which there are 35,000 across 30 states.

Lily Maxwell, 18, is majoring in biology at the University of Florida and plans to pursue a career in veterinary medicine. She was home-schooled and graduated this year. During her senior year, she was a captain of Palatka High School’s swimming and tennis teams.

Her father and older sister were recipients of the scholarship in 1991 and 2019, respectively. The scholarship covers $2,000 a year for expenses for up to four years of full-time undergraduate study or until bachelor’s degree requirements are completed.

“I was pretty excited, to be honest. My dad got the scholarship when he was in high school and my older sister did,” Lily Maxwell said. “It’s kind of a legacy thing now. I was over the moon.”

Lily Maxwell’s mother, Amy Maxwell, said her daughter is a self-motivated hard worker. Amy Maxwell said she has been joking with her youngest son that the pressure is on for the next family member to receive the scholarship.

“We’re very proud of Lily,” Amy Maxwell said. “She worked very hard.”

Mike Griffith, GP’s vice president of manufacturing and the Palatka mill manager, said it is an honor to present one of the scholarships to a local family. Hank Maxwell, Lily Maxwell’s father, is a product system leader for the Palatka mill’s pulp and power generation operation.

“We are thrilled that Lily plans to stay in Florida and pursue a field of study that will be meaningful to her as well as provide the opportunity to one day serve others through the application of science and math,” Hank Maxwell said.

According to a press release, Georgia-Pacific has awarded about 1,600 scholarships worth more than $13 million since the scholarship program began in 1988. The program is managed by the National Merit Scholarship Corp.