Luca Alonzo is well on his way to college, even though he just turned 1 on Monday.<\/p>\n
The dark-haired, dark-eyed infant with a shy smile was the winner of the 2016 Path2College 529 Plan Newborn Sweepstakes and now has $5,529 stashed away in a college savings account.<\/p>\n
Born Aug. 14, 2016, at Cartersville Medical Center, Luca was randomly selected to receive the college fund from more than 2,800 babies born in Georgia last year who were entered by their parents or grandparents in the seventh annual statewide sweepstakes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are thrilled to learn that a Cartersville Medical Center baby was selected to receive the Path2College Newborn Sweepstakes award this year,\u201d CMC Director of Marketing and Public Relations Ginger Tyra said. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to partner with Path2College and congratulate Luca and his family for receiving a great start to his future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitch Seabaugh, executive director of the Path2College 529 Plan, said he was \u201cjust thrilled to be here at Cartersville to recognize the winner.\u201d<\/p>\n
Luca, along with his mom, Sarah Kraft of Kennesaw, and grandparents John and Toni Kraft of Acworth, was presented a ceremonial check Wednesday morning at the hospital.<\/p>\n
\u201c529 plans have been a great tool for our kids to do college so we were hoping we could get something started for Luca, and this is a great way to kick it off,\u201d said John Kraft, who entered his grandson in the sweepstakes. \u201cMy parents, our children\u2019s grandparents, had made use of the 529 plan, and it\u2019s been very helpful in their college, so when he was born, I started looking around, doing some research, and saw the sweepstakes. Just kind of signed up just on a passing thought and very, very excited to have won.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said he was surprised when he was notified a few months ago that his first grandchild had won.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you enter these things, you don\u2019t really think you\u2019re going to win, but every now and then when it works out, it\u2019s just great,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re glad to give Luca a good head start on a college fund.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toni Kraft also was surprised because she didn\u2019t know her husband had entered.<\/p>\n
\u201cTotal surprise, and we were a little skeptical at first that it was real,\u201d she said. \u201cJust really thrilled. We never win anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if it was a relief knowing her grandson has some money put back for college already, she said, \u201cyes, very much, because we\u2019re still trying to put our own two [daughters] through.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re working on that, so it\u2019s great to know he\u2019s got a little padding there,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd now that we\u2019ve got the account, we can tell other people, instead of buying toys [for gifts], they can just add a little bit to that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah Kraft, 23, was excited to win a college fund for her son.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s awesome because we didn\u2019t have a big savings for him yet so we\u2019re excited to get something started for him,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s a good first-birthday present.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Georgia Highlands College nursing major didn\u2019t know her dad had entered the sweepstakes and wasn\u2019t convinced they had won when he told her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, I didn\u2019t believe him at first, but I was super-excited because I know that\u2019s how we get a lot of our money for college,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m just excited about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
John Kraft said his family is divided between Georgia Tech and Georgia so Luca will be \u201cgetting lots of advice about potential schools over the years,\u201d but Sarah Kraft said she doesn\u2019t have a preference.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever he wants,\u201d she said. \u201cAs long as he\u2019s going to school, I\u2019m happy.\u201d<\/p>\n
As part of the sweepstakes, the hospital also received a check for $1,529 that it can use in whatever way it sees fit.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have designated the Path2College 529 Plan award money to be used specifically for a future project or patient resources in our mother\/baby department,\u201d Tyra said.<\/p>\n
Seabaugh said his job is to make parents, grandparents and guardians aware of the state-sponsored plan and to encourage them to start thinking about the future of the children in their lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur task is to try to raise awareness in the state of Georgia [that] you need to start saving for college,\u201d he said. \u201cOne of the things we want to emphasize is that the earlier you start, that gives you the opportunity to be able to save money so that when they make the decision about where it is they want to go to school, then they will have had some money saved.\u201d<\/p>\n
College funds also can help persuade young people to continue their education past high school.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudies have shown that children who have a college savings account are seven times more likely to actually go to college, so we feel like it\u2019s very important that parents start saving,\u201d Seabaugh said.<\/p>\n
And it\u2019s never too late to start.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing we like to tell people is every dollar saved is one less dollar you\u2019ve got to come up with in time to go to school or one less dollar in student debt,\u201d Seabaugh said.<\/p>\n
Luca is the first winner born at Cartersville Medical Center. Four of the past winners were born at Northside Hospital in Atlanta, and one was born at Doctors Hospital in Augusta.<\/p>\n
On Jan. 1, the Path2College 529 Plan kicked off this year\u2019s Newborn Sweepstakes.<\/p>\n
Parents, grandparents and guardians of Georgia babies born in 2017 have until April 14, 2018, to enter the sweepstakes at www.Path2College529.com. Entrants must be legal residents of or taxpayers in Georgia and at least 18 years old.<\/p>\n
The winner will be selected April 15, 2018.<\/p>\n
Since the plan was established in 2002, more than $590 million has been withdrawn to pay for qualified higher education expenses for almost 36,000 students, and $2.3 billion has been invested to pay future education-related expenses, as of June 30, according to a press release.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want to continue to see these numbers rise, ensuring that more Georgia children have a solid financial plan to help them continue their education and achieve their dreams,\u201d Seabaugh said.<\/p>\n