SAIPAN - Tan Holdings Corporation (THC) has awarded five local students with $1,000 each in scholarship money to help them attend Northern Marianas College. The scholarships were presented during a luncheon with the Tan Holding Foundation board of directors and college officials at the Dai-ichi Hotel Saipan Beach New Jade Garden Restaurant.

The first $5,000 donation towards the "Tan Holdings NMC Scholarship" was presented to college officials last year by THC's Executive Vice President Jerry Tan, who also serves as president of the Northern Marianas College Foundation. The company has pledged an additional $5,000 in scholarship money for five more students for the 2004 Fall Semester.

The students who received awards were selected based on a variety of criteria by a selection committee comprised of college and THC officials. The winning students were Pamela C. Sablan, Rene Villegas, Juliana D. Dela Rosa, Shirlynn O. Perez, and Manuela A. Sablan.

" It's very important to the islands' future to support education in our community, and we wanted to present these scholarship funds as our way of helping to make higher education more accessible and affordable for local students," said Tan.

"We sincerely appreciate Tan Holdings' continued support of Northern Marianas College. This Tan Holdings Scholarship Program will be welcomed by our resident students and will contribute in enhancing the education and training of our local workforce," said Acting NMC President Tony DeLeon Guerrero.