SOUTH PORTLAND – Southern Maine Community College is proud to announce that the Casco Bay Bluefin Bonanza, alongside friends and family, has successfully fully endowed the Casco Bay Bluefin Bonanza Lindsay Withers EMS/Paramedicine Scholarship by raising $30,000.
Family and friends of Withers visited SMCC on Jan. 22, to mark two years since her passing after a courageous battle with metastatic breast cancer. In a heartfelt private ceremony attended by her loved ones, members of the CBBB board, and senior staff from the College and Foundation, a significant milestone was announced — the CBBB Lindsay Withers Memorial Scholarship has now reached a funding level that will sustain an annual scholarship award in perpetuity. This scholarship will ensure Withers’ legacy of compassion and dedication to emergency care continues.
The scholarship was established in 2023 to honor Withers’ legacy. She devoted her life to emergency medical services, following in her father’s footsteps. She served her hometown of Rehoboth, Massachusetts, in various capacities, including as a firefighter, EMT and paramedic, before expanding her impact as a shift supervisor at a private EMS company serving multiple Massachusetts communities.
After moving to Maine, Withers found a deep connection with the waters off SMCC through her partner, Capt. Shawn Tibbetts, a key figure in the CBBB. Withers’ passion for helping others extended to her love of the ocean, where she became an accomplished angler, local guide and a valued member of the CBBB team.
“We are incredibly grateful to Shawn, Jane and Bob Humphrey, and the entire CBBB family for their tireless efforts to fully endow this scholarship,” SMCC President Kristen Miller said. “Lindsay’s legacy of compassion and service will live on through the students who benefit from this fund and their future contributions to the communities they serve.”
The SMCC Foundation will distribute the scholarship to eligible emergency medical services/paramedicine students. Students must meet the following criteria to apply:
- Be enrolled in the SMCC Emergency Medical Services/Paramedicine program.
- Be recommended by the department chair, with preference given to students who are licensed EMTs from rural municipal or regional first responder programs.
- Be in good academic standing according to the College’s established standards.
“The Withers Scholarship will help aspiring students achieve the education required to become a needed paramedic provider in our community,” said David Tauber, department chair and paramedic program director in SMCC’s Emergency Medical Services Department. “In our rural communities, there is a terrific need to provide emergency medical services with well-educated pre-hospital clinicians. The Withers scholarship will help our students meet this need while following in Lindsay’s footsteps of service.”
Donations can be made for those interested in supporting the scholarship by visiting www.smccME.edu/withersscholarship.
