OXFORD – An anonymous donor has contributed $1.1 million to provide college scholarships for Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School graduates.

The donor, who has previously given $2 million on two occasions in the past 10 years, has stipulated that $100,000 of it be awarded specifically to graduates and post graduates this year.

“Someone really cares about the future of our young people and the area,” Superintendent Mark Eastman said.

Eastman serves as a trustee on the Oxford Hills Scholarship Foundation with William Medd, Charlene Chase, Robert Harmon, Robert Story and Gene Benner. The Foundation has received more than $4 million in the past 10 years. Three million of that money came from the anonymous donor and another $1 million came from the estate of William and John Porter.

Eastman said the donor originally contributed $100,000 this year but was concerned about the market, he contributed another $1 million three days later.

The superintendent said the trustees were concerned about their investments with the down market this year and were afraid they would not be able to give any awards until the gift came in from the anonymous donor.

“The trustees are thrilled and grateful for these gifts,” he told the graduating students during the annual senior class night Wednesday. “The ability to give the gift of learning is one that is enduring and life-altering. In the words of Franklin Delano Roosevelt) ‘We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.'”

Eastman said the trustees’ goal is keep the principal intact so that only money from the account’s interest will be used for scholarships.

“The goal is to try to maintain the principal so this will be enduring and help graduates for years to come,” Eastman said.

The donor’s criteria for the scholarship is two-fold, he said. Students must be enrolled in a post secondary school, either two or four-year, and sign a statement that he or she is not a substance abuser.

The scholarships are based on financial need and benefit 50 to 100 students.

A total of 109 scholarships totaling nearly $500,000 were awarded to about 330 recipients this year.

The largest fund is the Oxford Hills Scholarship Foundation. During the last several years the foundation has awarded more than $972,000 in scholarships to graduates and post-graduates who have demonstrated financial need.

In addition to the Oxford Hills Scholarship Fund, Eastman said students have benefited by a number of other scholarships including the James and Beatrice Jackson Scholarship Trust that was established for West Paris students. Each year, two students received individual awards of at least $25,000.

The George and Raynor Brown Scholarship Trust allows Waterford students to share annual awards totaling $25,000.

The Jean Murray and Josephine Caswell scholarships distributes $17,000 in awards to Harrison graduates.

The Pearl Starbird arts scholarship provides an annual distribution of $75,000 to $100,000, from a non-endowed fund supervised by the Maine Community Foundation.