ATLANTA - A Gainesville Middle School student, 11-year-old Lily Wallace, has been awarded a contribution to a Path2College 529 account as one of six statewide winners in the We Care, Child Care sweepstakes.
Lily, who wants to be an orthodontist when she grows up, is a straight-A student. She and her family are already planning for the cost of her education.
“We know that with the rising cost of a college education, and her goals of becoming an orthodontist, she will have many years of costly education in her future. Lily knows that she will have to apply for any/every possible scholarship opportunity as well as utilize the funds that her family is able to provide through college savings,” said her mother, Sondra Wallace-Foster. “Our family isn’t wealthy, but we save consistently each month. Winning this sweepstakes is a huge blessing.”
The We Care, Child Care sweepstakes was made possible through a partnership between the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning (DECAL) and the Path2College 529 Plan, and it was designed to raise awareness about the importance of saving for college among families with child care age children.
“Regular contributions over time can have a tremendous impact on a child’s educational expenses, so the best time to start saving is when a child is young,” said Mitch Seabaugh, executive director of the Path2College 529 Plan. “There are many families that aren’t aware of the opportunity to save in the state of Georgia’s Path2College 529 Plan, so we established this partnership with DECAL to reach families with children in child care to get them thinking about the future. Thanks to the efforts of child care facilities across the state, we were able to educate more families about their college savings opportunities.”
Other winners are 13-year-old Emily Haberman from Senoia, eight-year-old Rebekah Yarbrough from Ludowici, three-year-old Adaleigh Carter from Athens, 10-year-old Giancarlo Gomez of Snellville and eight-month-old Isabella Branson of Kennesaw. Each was awarded $1,529 for their college savings plans.
“DECAL’s goal is to lay a solid academic foundation on which a child’s education can be built, and this sweepstakes focused on also establishing a solid financial foundation to allow children to build upon their education and achieve their dreams,” said DECAL Commissioner Amy Jacobs. “We want to congratulate our winners, and also thank our child care facilities across the state for taking time over the past few months to share information about the importance of saving for college with their families. Together we can make a difference.”
In addition to awarding the six children with college savings contributions, Path2College and DECAL recognized 60 child care facilities across the state with prize money for their efforts in sharing information about saving for college with families at their facilities.
The Path2College 529 Plan was established in 2002, and through October 31, 2015, more than 28,000 families have withdrawn over $421 million to pay for education-related expenses. As of September 30, the plan had almost 129,000 beneficiaries with more than $1.7 billion saved.
For more information about the program, to open an account or to find information about the program’s latest sweepstakes, visit www.Path2College529.com.
