Decatur, IL – The Ripple Foundation is cementing the legacy of a local man beloved in the automotive community through fully endowing their scholarship for automotive students at Richland Community College.
The CDR Tool Scholarship is named after Christopher David Ripple – who was well known for his work through the family business, Ripple’s Auto Body. In November 2020, he died at age 48 because of an accident involving a drunk driver. To continue Chris’s positive impact on the community, his son, Wade Ripple, created the Ripple Foundation.
The scholarship itself was first created in 2022 to celebrate what would have been Chris’s 50th birthday. It gives students the money to purchase tools for their automotive classes. Since creating the scholarship, the Ripple Foundation has been raising money to endow the fund – ensuring there will always be financial support for automotive students. Through this year’s Ripple Motor Show, the Ripple Foundation reached that goal – raising the $6,000 needed to ensure there will always be funds in the scholarship.
“We are honored to be able to push our scholarship to endowment, ensuring my dad’s love of the automotive industry and serving heart live on through the students impacted by its assistance,” said Wade Ripple, President of the Ripple Foundation. “This milestone signifies a lot for my family and me. It establishes a space of existence for dad’s spirit, an anchor point for perpetual reflection on the kind life he led. He was one of the good ones.”
Students interested in the CDR Tool Scholarship can apply by going to richland.edu/scholarships.
