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Smithfield Foods and Smithfield Packing Co. announced in November that they would donate up to $25,000 to the Peninsula Metropolitan YMCA to establish a scholarship in honor of Smithfield High School graduate Nicole White, who was killed in the April shootings at Virginia Tech.

The companies will match community contributions of up to $25,000 to the Nicole R. White Memorial Scholarship Fund. Smithfield High and the Peninsula YMCA hope to raise a total of $75,000 for the endowment – enough to provide a yearly $4,000 scholarship that can be applied to any accredited state college or university.

"At Smithfield, we have long been committed to giving back to the communities and people who have made our company great," said Joseph W. Luter, IV, president of Smithfield Packing. "One of our most closely held corporate values revolves around education.  Higher education, especially, is the ticket for young men and women to success in a global economy."

Nicole White was an active volunteer at the YMCA, as well as at a local animal shelter, a battered women’s shelter and with the Isle of Wight Volunteer Rescue Squad. The scholarship will be awarded each year to a Smithfield High senior that shows a similar dedication to volunteer work.

Smithfield High and the Peninsula YMCA have raised $8,600 to date. Anyone interested in contributing to the fund can send tax deductible donations to the "Peninsula Metropolitan YMCA" and note that it is for the "Nicole R. White Memorial Scholarship Fund."