Boomarang Diner to Award Four Scholarships to Pottawatomie County Students
A new scholarship program from Boomarang Diner means your burger and Pickle-Os could make it possible for Pottawatomie County kids to continue their education after high school.
The Pottawatomie County-based diner chain recently announced its Keep Giving Back scholarship program, which will award 59 scholarships — one for each of its locations — to students in the communities they serve. Headquartered right here in Shawnee, Oklahoma, Boomarang Diner has grown into one of Oklahoma's most recognizable homegrown chains, with locations scattered across the state and a menu regulars can recite by heart.
With four locations in Pottawatomie County — two in Shawnee, one in Tecumseh, and one in McLoud — that means at least four scholarships are guaranteed to go to Pottawatomie County students, with the potential for more depending on how much each location raises.
Rather than pooling donations into one statewide account, every dollar raised at the register of a specific Boomarang Diner stays with that diner's community. Money raised at a Shawnee location might go toward a Shawnee student paying for a welding certification. Donations at the register in Tecumseh could fund a graduate's dream of becoming a nurse. A morning regular paying for his coffee in McLoud may be directly funding a scholarship for the kid down the road heading off to a four-year university.
"Community is at the core of everything we do, and Pottawatomie County is especially meaningful to us," said Madison Degraffenreid, marketing director at Boomarang Diners, Inc. "Our home office is based in Shawnee, our roots run deep here, and we are truly ingrained in these communities."
The scholarship's eligibility is also built with a broader definition of what comes after high school. Rather than limiting funding to students headed toward a traditional four-year university, the Keep Giving Back Scholarship also supports students pursuing trade schools, technical colleges, and community colleges.
For Degraffenreid, that inclusive approach reflects the same philosophy that's kept Boomarang feeling like a hometown diner even as it's grown into a statewide name.
"Whether someone grew up visiting us with their grandparents, became a regular while attending OBU, or stopped in with their baseball team after a tournament, we want to be the community diner that knows their face and always welcomes them with a smile," Degraffenreid said. "Those relationships are what make Boomarang special, and they are why it means so much that every dollar raised by our Pottawatomie County diners will stay here and create opportunities for local students."
Turns out you can go big time and still never stop being everybody's small-town spot. Proud to have this kind of homegrown generosity right here in Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma.
