The Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore (CFES), paid tribute recently to the memory of Elizabeth Brittingham Pusey at a reception at The Ward Museum to recognize a special legacy gift that will create $500,000 in scholarships for Wicomico County students over the next decade and beyond.
Mrs. Pusey left a bequest to the Foundation that significantly increases the number of scholarships that will be awarded in perpetuity from an endowment fund she established during her lifetime. The gift adds a substantial amount to $5.5 million in scholarship funds already administered by the Community Foundation.
In 2001 Mrs. Pusey made an anonymous gift to the Foundation to start the Wicomico Scholarship Fund. “Mrs. Pusey was not seeking recognition, she just wanted to do good,” said Spicer Bell, CFES president.
Over the years she added additional gifts to the endowment which has enabled 18 scholarships to be awarded since the fund was established. Students have received scholarships to attend a variety of prestigious colleges including: Washington College, Campbell University, James Madison University, Wake Forest, the Pratt Institute, the University of Maryland, Salisbury University and Wor-Wic College.
Before her passing, Mrs. Pusey was kept informed of the colleges her scholarship recipients were attending and apparently she was pleased with the result. The bequest from her estate will enable the Foundation to award about $50,000 in scholarships every year, forever.
Since her passing, Mrs. Pusey’s scholarship gifts are no longer required to be anonymous. With the lifting of the restriction, the endowed fund was recently been renamed the Elizabeth Brittingham Pusey Scholarship. The Foundation is also honoring Mrs. Pusey’s philanthropy with a permanent plaque that will be displayed at the Eastern Shore Nonprofit Support Center in Salisbury.
The announcement of Mrs. Pusey’s bequest was made at a reception honoring members of the Foundation’s Legacy Society. The Legacy Society recognizes all those who have notified the Foundation that they have made a deferred gift in their will or other estate plan.