YMKG Celebrates the 26th Year of the Community Fund, Having Donated Over $1.3 Million to Hillsborough County Students
Tampa, Fla. – (May 24, 2023) – Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla (YMKG) announced they would share their treasure this year by awarding ten deserving high school seniors from the Tampa Bay area with $120,000 in college scholarships. Typically known for their pirating ways and stealing the coveted key to the City of Tampa, our local seafaring fellows have awarded $1,346,000 in college scholarships to students in Hillsborough County over the past twenty-six years through the Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla Community Fund.
Tampa Bay area high school principals nominated one student for every one hundred students or a fraction thereof in its graduating class. Nominees completed a comprehensive application, which underwent a selection panel review. A small group of finalists then participated in face-to-face interviews before selecting scholarship recipients.
“The 2023 graduating class presented an exemplary group of young scholars,” said YMKG Captain Truett Gardner. “Each of them showcased leadership amongst their peers, academic and athletic success. Our panel reviewed more than 90 accomplished applicants, and narrowing that to our final ten was no easy task. Congratulations to each of these young men and women! We have no doubts that they have high-achieving futures ahead of them.”
The ten honorees were surprised by an invasion of plundering pirates who hand-delivered their award to the school. Each of them excelled in academics, athletics, and leadership activities.
YMKG is very proud to introduce the 2023 Gasparilla Community Fund Scholarship Class.
- Sarah Fabel, Strawberry Crest High School – Attending the University of Central Florida
- Westin Doud, Riverview High School – Attending Florida Gulf Coast University
- Ariel Laporte, Tampa Bay Technical High School – Attending the University of Florida
- Paraman Galipalli, Middleton High School – Attending the University of Florida
- Caroline Haxton, Durant High School – Attending the University of Florida
- Peyton Haxton, Durant High School – Attending the University of Florida
- Melanie Hernandez, Jefferson High School – Attending Florida State University
- Ronan McKenna, Sickles High School – Attending the University of South Florida
- Jamie Slaybaugh, Sickles High School – Attending Florida State University
- Hailley Siswanto, Tampa Preparatory School – Attending Yale University
Please use this link for images and videos of the 2023 YMKG Community Fund recipients. Please provide credit to Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla.
YMKG has been hosting Tampa’s signature Gasparilla festivities for over 100 years and has a dedicated history of philanthropic support, including hospital visits, elementary school invasions, and private sails upon the Jose Gasparilla with local pediatric cancer patients.
About Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla Community Fund Corporation
Founded by members of Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla, the Ye Mystic Krewe of Gasparilla Scholarship Foundation, and its successor, the Community Fund was initially substantially funded by the 83rd King Gasparilla, George M. Steinbrenner III, and the New York Yankees. Today proceeds from an annual charity dinner hosted by Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Tampa, an annual sporting clay tournament, and private contributions from Ye Mystic Krewe Gasparilla members help to fund the cause.
Past scholarship recipients have graduated from Hillsborough County schools, including Academy of the Holy Names, Armwood High School, Berkeley Preparatory School, Blake High School, Bloomingdale High School, Brandon High School, Brooks DeBartolo High School, The Cambridge School, Chamberlain High School, Durant High School, East Bay High School, Freedom High School, Gaither High School, Hillsborough High School, Jefferson High School, Jesuit High School, King High School, Lennard High School, Plant High School, Plant City High School, Riverview High School, Robinson High School, Spoto High School, Steinbrenner High School, Strawberry Crest High School, Tampa Baptist Academy, Tampa Bay Technical High School, Tampa Preparatory School, and Wharton High School.
Past scholarship recipients have attended Barnard College, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Duke University, Emory University, Flagler College, Florida Atlantic University, Florida State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, Gordon State College, Harding University, Harvard University, Hillsborough Community College, Lee University, Princeton University, Queens University of Charlotte, Southeastern University, Trinity University, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of Miami, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, University of Notre Dame, University of South Florida, and Yale University.