Logan Granger was a recent recipient of the 2021 Lila Grace Sullivan Amirault Scholarship. Courtesy photo

SCARBOROUGH — A student from Scarborough says se believes in the value of hard work and in the importance of sharing their gifts with others. He and another student have been named the winners of the 2021 Lila Grace Sullivan Amirault Scholarships.

Logan Granger, a Scarborough resident and senior at Cheverus High School in Portland, will receive $5,000 to put towards their college tuition, as will Lauren Theriault, a senior at Saint Dominic Academy in Auburn.

“I know quite a few people put in for it, so I was pretty thrilled to get it,” said Granger, a Scarborough resident.

The scholarship was established by Patrick Amirault through the Catholic Foundation of Maine in 2013. Amirault wanted to honor the memory of his wife, Lila, and also to show his gratitude for the care and education he received at a Catholic school in Malden, Massachusetts, where he grew up as one of nine children in a poor family. Although Amirault is now also deceased, the scholarship continues to benefit Maine Catholic high school seniors like Granger.

“It will go a long way in helping me pay for college,” said Granger. “I am very proud and interested in my faith, which led me to this scholarship.”

Although Granger hasn’t made his college choice yet, he is leaning towards attending Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut, saying he is eyeing a Catholic college because of the positive experience he had at Cheverus.

“I really enjoyed and was able to benefit greatly from attending a Catholic high school, and I hope to get the same out of college,” he said.

Granger said that attending Cheverus and the retreats the school offers have helped him to grow in his faith, something he said he wasn’t thinking much about when he arrived there for his freshman year.

“As I went on my freshman retreat, it was not only a good time to meet my fellow classmates, but it also opened the door to what I really want to look for in God. And I just recently went on the Kairos retreat, which is the senior retreat, three days long, and it really just kind of transforms you,” he said. “It really kind of helped put my love for God into practice through my everyday life.”

That includes his service as a volunteer firefighter for the Scarborough Fire Department. While responding to fires and motor vehicle accidents can be difficult, Logan said he has seen the presence of God in those with whom he serves, as well as in the acts of strangers who have gone out of their way to help others.

“It’s just stuff like that that really helps me see the love in the world,” he said. “I have a really good group of people who I get to work with. I consider a lot of them to be mentors to me, and that’s just another example of how you can really find true love and compassion in the people who serve the community.”

He said it is his experiences as a volunteer firefighter, along with a Zoom call with a surgeon from Maine Medical Center in Portland, that led to his desire to become a cardiac surgeon. He plans to major in biology in college and then attend medical school.

“I really learned how much I love working with people and being there for people when they’re at their worst,” he said.

Granger said he believes in the importance of working hard to achieve your goals.

“I have extreme pride in my work and strongly believe in values such as dignity, attitude, and trust. These are rooted in my faith and upbringing,” he said.

Granger has been active in school and in service work.

In addition to volunteering with the Scarborough Fire Department, Granger is a member of the Spanish Club and Key Club at Cheverus, both of which engage in service work. The Key Club is known for organizing the school’s Turkey Drive, which feeds hundreds of families each Thanksgiving, including during this past year, despite the challenges of the pandemic. Granger will also be volunteering at the Riding to the Top Therapeutic Riding Center in Windham in May.

“I definitely grew up in a family of service. My dad was a state trooper for 29 years, and I would say he, along with my mom, inspired me to really love people,” Granger said.

Granger is also a member of Cheverus’ baseball and golf teams.

Granger said attending Cheverus has left him well prepared for the future.

“If I had to do it again, I couldn’t ask for a better group of mentors, whether it be the teachers, the coaches, all the way up,” said Granger.

The Amirault Scholarship Endowment was established through the Catholic Foundation of Maine, which provides opportunities for people to create or contribute to charitable funds that enhance the work of the Church in Maine.

To learn more about creating a lasting legacy like the one left by Patrick Amirault, contact Executive Director Elizabeth Badger at (207) 321-7820 or elizabeth.badger@portlanddiocese.org. For more information, visit www.catholicfoundationmaine.org.