The legendary Patsy Cline and Johnny Cash brought a packed house to its feet in Moravian College’s Johnston Hall during a March special concert benefitting the BEST Scholarship Program. BEST (Building Educational Support Teams) Inc. is a local nonprofit that specializes in developing, mentoring and funding disadvantaged Lehigh Valley students to attend and succeed in college.

Tribute artists Josie Waverly as Patsy Cline and Terry Lee Goffee as Johnny Cash did not disappoint fans of these sweeping artistic icons at BEST Inc.’s first “Cash & Cline” concert, sponsored by Cohen, Feeley, Altemose & Rambo. The event drew a crowd of 374 people and, between ticket sales and donations collected throughout the evening, raised a total of $18,000 with the help of 34 volunteers.

“Students, mentors, board members and friends of BEST all pulled together to make [this night] a success,” said co-founder Judy Tierney.

BEST Inc. was founded in 2008 by Tierney and Billy Staples with assistance from local philanthropist Linny Fowler (also named as a cofounder) to help youth from challenging circumstances fulfill their dreams of earning a college degree. The totally volunteer-run program provides students with modest financial assistance and, on a much larger note, a caring, stable environment where they are each paired up with mentors of the students’ choosing (though it can’t be a family member) who follow and support them throughout their college years. Currently, 30 students benefit from the program.

“A lot of our kids are first-generation college students,” Staples explained. “Many of them never planned to go to college because they didn’t think it was an option.”

“We have some first-generation high school graduates, too,” added board member Troy Walker.

Marty Cohen of Cohen, Feeley, Altemose & Rambo has been involved with BEST for years, he says, because of Staples’s commitment to the kids.

“I’ve been involved with many organizations that help youth and they don’t all follow through like Billy does,” Cohen said.

While being selected as a BEST scholar does require a household income limit, students are not required to be destitute. BEST scholars include students who would normally qualify for little to no financial help from their colleges because they fall in the middle where their families make too much money and they are not at the top of their classes. Some lack an environment supportive to their academic goals. Still, there are many who do come from humble means, unstable homes and have overcome some very tragic circumstances according to Staples and Tierney.

BEST scholars receive a check sent directly to their colleges each semester totaling around $5,000 over four years. In exchange, the student must maintain a 2.8 GPA and send a report summarizing all he or she learned at the conclusion of each semester. If the student falters on this, BEST will hold the check until the student’s grades improve and/or they receive the required semesterly report(s). Students are free to attend any college in the country, change majors and transfer schools without it affecting their scholarship status.

Potential BEST scholars are nominated by their high school superintendents based on criteria that include household income, academic performance, involvement in community and school activities and character. They also consider, to the best of their knowledge, who would benefit most from the BEST’s mentoring program, according to Staples.

“When we mentor our kids, we make an effort to truly know them, so much so that we know just where and how to push them,” Staples elaborated. He, Tierney and the other mentors connect regularly with the students throughout the school year, make themselves available 24/7 and are ready to jump in the car and visit them when they hit a rough patch. They work with the students’ colleges to make that support system even sturdier.

“We’re committed to helping them through their struggles and we hope our caring will inspire them to be caring, too,” Staples said.

Nicole Mejia, a nursing student at East Stroudsburg University, found strength from this mentoring while she grappled hard with her load of weighty medical courses, like anatomy and physiology. She said she found the courage to plow ahead from her BEST support system.

“BEST is family,” said the Phillipsburg HS graduate. “It’s like having a personal fan club.”

James Hadinger, a graduate of Salisbury HS, is wrapping up his freshman year at Lehigh University with a major in engineering, which he plans to switch to marketing. He is one of 11 kids and says he can “feel” his siblings, looking up to him.

“My first semester at Lehigh was the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through,” he explained. “I learned that it’s not just about meeting the expectations that are put on you, but how you handle those expectations along the way that matters. My mentor knew how to motivate me the right way through that semester. In a society where kids just want attention, BEST gives you the right attention.”

Sabrina Lin receives financial assistance from DeSales University where she’s studying nursing for her stellar grades at Liberty HS. As a BEST scholar, she’s benefitted mostly from the mentoring and relationships with her peers.

“I was a little over protected growing up and wasn’t allowed to go out much, so I didn’t have much chance to have friends my own age,” she explained. “I found that chance at BEST, as well as people who knew how to support me academically.”

“This is a wonderful organization,” said Byron L. Grigsby, president of Moravian College, home to two current BEST scholars. “BEST is providing a stable background for these students who, coming from their circumstances, would normally fall in the lower 20 percent range for college graduation.”

BEST boasts a graduation rate of 91 percent as compared to the state average of 62.9 percent for public colleges and 71.4 percent for private colleges in 2013, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Over the past 10 years, BEST has helped produce over 60 college graduates from the Lehigh Valley.

Students give back to BEST by helping at one event per year and are asked to devote two years of their time, energy and talent after graduation to helping BEST however they can, be it with events, welcoming and mentoring new students, and contributing in other ways.

Taylor Shafer returned to volunteer at the concert and also mentors a current student encountering similar challenges as she faced while studying at Kutztown University before graduating with her degree in English and secondary education.

“To give back to BEST is to give back in a bigger way than just giving a little time,” Shafer explained. “It’s about having a purpose. I feel like giving back to BEST is purpose in itself.”

Carly Seldow, a graduate of Liberty HS and Rutgers University with a degree in agriculture, added “I want to be a part of this because it’s for people I love. I was very welcomed at BEST and I want to give back by giving new students that same experience and in other ways, like working hard and being a good citizen and tax payer.”

Shafer is now a paraprofessional and volunteer cheering coach at her alma mater, Philipsburg HS. Seldow works as a grower at Edible Garden in New Jersey.

“If a student goes to college in California and then gets a job out there, we certainly don’t expect him or her to turn down that job to come back for two years,” Tierney said. “But we do expect that they commit to doing what they can from a distance for two years, such as donating, or becoming a mentor for one of our new students.”

Waverly, who is from New York and has been bringing Patsy Cline to life for the past five years, performs all over the country for charitable organizations, but this one hit home, she said.

“My family moved around a lot when I was growing up, so I was constantly the new kid in school and felt out of place,” she explained. “Having a mentor to take me under their wing would have helped. I wish something like this organization had existed when I was a kid.”

Moravian College will host BEST’s next fundraiser July 22 featuring a meet and greet with current and retired professional baseball players and an auction of baseball memorabilia, followed by its annual golf tournament and banquet July 23 at Silver Creek Country Club.