Mainebiz

V O L . X X X N O. X I V J U N E 2 4 , 2 0 2 4 10 H I G H E R E D U C A T I O N / P R O F E S S I O N A L D E V E L O P M E N T F O C U S A s the only woman in her flight-school class decades ago in Texas, Beverly Worthington knew there was no room for error. "When I was getting my ratings for flying, I had to be better than the men, because they were going to flunk me every time if they could," she says. She financed her education from her earnings as a hair-salon business owner while starting and raising a family. Today, the 77-year-old retired pilot and aviation entrepreneur chairs the board and serves as treasurer of the Worthington Scholarship Foundation that she and her late husband, David Worthington, founded in Rockland near their summer residence in Spruce Head. e couple began awarding scholarships to Maine high school graduates in 2010 via the Maine Community Foundation, then started their own foundation in 2017. e idea was to help Mainers from low- and middle-income families afford col- lege, free of the obstacles the couple overcame to finance their own educa- tion. To date, the Worthingtons have committed more than $42 million for 2,489 students, including close to $14.5 million this year for 766 scholarships. If pending applications are approved, that number may reach 800. "We see the potential in all Maine students who aspire for success through higher education," says Julie Bourgoin, who leads a six-person staff at the foundation established by her mother and stepfather. She joined the organization in 2021 after 30 years in hospital, education and social services fundraising and became president in early 2023. "Our awarded scholars are not only high achievers, but also those whom others may often overlook." From Texas to Maine David Worthington's ties to Maine go back to his post high-school years, when his family moved from Massachusetts to the Knox County town of Appleton to raise chinchillas. He later bought a house in Spruce Head. e Worthingtons met 25 years ago outside an art museum in Houston, when David waited with Beverly for 90 minutes for a ride from AAA after her car broke down, tossing his business card into the open window as she departed. A lunch date led to a 23-year mar- riage. Neither had an easy time attain- ing their college degrees. Forced to interrupt his undergradu- ate studies at Marietta College in Ohio because he ran out of money, David spent three years in the Army before Beverly Worthington, co- founder of the Worthington Scholarship Foundation in Rockland, works closely with her daughter, Julie Bourgoin, the organization's president. P H O T O / J I M N E U G E R B y R e n e e C o r d e s MAKING the GRADE Small but mighty foundation opens college doors for growing number of Mainers

• Cover