GROVE CITY, OH (WCMH) — A one-of-a-kind scholarship is aimed at encouraging young people to come back to Grove City after graduating from college or a trade school.

The city is offering $1,000 per semester for local students if they sign an agreement to either commit to staying and working in Grove City for three years or volunteer with the city for 10 hours per semester.

Columbus State Community College Sophomore Bailey Harvey is in her second year in the program and said she chose to volunteer.

“I work at the MidOhio Foodbank which is incredible. You actually feel like you are helping people. It is just a good feeling to help people and I am making good contacts, because I am meeting people I wouldn’t normally meet,” Harvey said.

Council member Ted Berry is a sponsor and creator of the program who crafted the scholarship along with Mayor Ike Stage.

Berry said the scholarship idea started three years ago.

“The mayor is also working on creating a center for higher education, so hopefully in a year and a half we will have a center that can utilize the scholarships,” he said. “Like any city in central Ohio we have a major issue with keeping a talented workforce,” Berry said.

Grove City has more than 1,000 jobs in the pipeline with two new hospitals being built and a new laboratory under construction.

“To us, people are just as important as incentivizing businesses,” Berry said. “This scholarship is good for people coming out of high school or 50-year-olds wanting to retool,” he said.

Over the last five semesters, 130 Grove City residents have either received or will receive the scholarship.