ATLANTA – With its largest individual scholarship gifts to date, Spherion Staffing and Recruiting (Spherion) announced today that its franchise community, in partnership with the Richland County Foundation, has awarded two 2024 high school graduates, Kimarra Turner and Hannah DeGraaff, with $5,000 each as part of the fifth annual Sandy Mazur Excellence in Leadership Scholarship. The scholarship was created in honor of former Spherion President Sandy Mazur to recognize outstanding students who best embody the qualities of excellence, leadership and passion that Mazur exhibited daily throughout her distinguished 18-year career at Spherion. 

“Each year, our team is completely in awe of the outstanding students who apply and share their pursuit of giving back to and strengthening their communities,” said Mazur. “I am incredibly privileged to be part of this scholarship program as we celebrate its fifth year. It’s inspiring to see our first recipients graduate and enter the workforce. Knowing that the Spherion franchise community has helped create opportunities for the next generation is truly rewarding.”

For the past five years, Spherion franchise owners have celebrated Mazur’s impactful career by donating to the scholarship fund as one way of keeping her “pay it forward” mentality at the forefront of their businesses. Her willingness to “go the extra mile” for others has inspired Spherion franchisees to help students further their education through college, technical or skilled training. This past spring, at the Spherion National Meeting, franchisees went the extra mile by hosting an online and live auction fundraiser for the scholarship, which resulted in the group raising nearly double the amounts it has raised in past years. One hundred percent of the proceeds go to scholarship recipients. 

The Spherion Scholarship Advisory Board, led by franchisees Beth DeLaney and Michael Chalmers, coordinates with Ohio-based nonprofit The Richland County Foundation to review hundreds of applicants and choose the finalists. From there, franchise community representatives, including DeLaney, Chalmers, and Mazur, choose the winners. With names and locations removed, the group reviewed the applicants and selected Turner and DeGraaff.

“The Sandy Mazur Scholarship is one of our most cherished events at Spherion. Supporting these outstanding students helps us live our vision to drive careers, grow businesses, and better the communities we call home. We are proud of every applicant this year, and we are thrilled to honor Kimarra and Hannah,” said Kathy George, president of Spherion. “These students are already making a difference in their communities, just like my former mentor and dear friend, Sandy Mazur advocated for. I’m so proud of how our franchisees came together to raise the most money in the history of this scholarship to help fund the education of three extremely deserving applicants.”

For more information about the Sandy Mazur Excellence in Leadership Scholarship, visit spherion.com/scholarship.

About Spherion

With more than 75 years of staffing and recruiting experience, Spherion stands out as a leader in the industry, leveraging the power of “local” to support its vast network of independent franchisees. True to its tagline, Let’s Get to Work, Spherion provides temporary, temp-to-hire, direct hire, and managed hiring services to more than 4,000 businesses nationwide across 200+ locations. With a 4.8/5 star Google review score and recognition as a Top 100 Staffing Company to Work for by World Staffing Awards, a Top Franchise by Franchise Business Review, and ranking #63 on Entrepreneur magazine’s 2024 Franchise 500 list, Spherion capably caters to the ever-changing demands of America’s workforce. Backed by the world’s most equitable and specialized talent company, Spherion provides superior staffing and recruiting solutions through its franchise model. 

For information about the Spherion franchising opportunity, visit https://www.spherion.com/franchise/.

About the Richland County Foundation

The Richland County Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c) (3) organization, was established in 1945 as a way for individuals to pool and invest their gifts for the long-term good of Richland County (Ohio) and its residents.

The Foundation helps people in Richland County give back to their community by investing their gifts for charity wisely so that grants can be made to improve the quality of life for all the county’s citizens. Working together with donors, the Foundation meets important needs today and plans for a strong future.

For more information about the Richland County Foundation, please visit https://www.richlandcountyfoundation.org/.

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