Garet Franklin, sales manager of River Bend Ford, has announced it will join Ford Motor Company in its ongoing commitment to the National FFA collegiate scholarships program, which will award $1,000 scholarships to hundreds of FFA members nationally.

Ford has supported the National FFA since the first F-Series truck was introduced in 1948, and has sponsored the Built Ford Tough collegiate scholarship program since 1997. The program, equally funded by Ford Motor Company and Ford dealers, has awarded almost $6.1 million in scholarships to FFA members.

River Bend Ford is sponsoring the Built Ford Tough collegiate scholarship program for Bainbridge High School for the 2010-2011 school year by helping a local student attend the college of their choice.

Applicants must be active FFA members in the chapter(s) identified by the dealership; available for seniors in high school and collegiate students who are pursuing post-secondary education. They must complete the online scholarship application and mail in the signature page with the sponsoring Ford dealership name, dealer code and signature. Ford will accept FFA collegiate students provided they are still active members of an identified chapter.

Application deadline is Feb. 14 and signature page must be postmarked no later than Feb. 22.

The evaluation and selection process for recipients takes place during February through April.