Recent changes to the HOPE Scholarship have put a strain and students and their families, but the Lanier Technical Foundation is seeking to ease that financial burden.

The foundation plans to hold its first European Pheasant Shoot on Nov. 12 to raise money for Lanier Technical College student scholarships.

Technical College System of Georgia students were greatly affected by the recent changes, a reason Foundation Chair Kevin Tanner decided to organized the fundraiser.

“Due to budget restraints and decreased funding there’s going to be a lot of students, specifically at the technical school level that are currently in their program, that are not going to be able to receive HOPE in the spring semester of next year,” Tanner said.

Rather than the previous 2.0 grade-point average standard, technical students are now required to maintain a 3.0, and the scholarship will only cover 90 percent of tuition. Those changes will begin following the fall 2011 semester.

Tanner said the changes will have the biggest impact on current students rather than students still in high school.

“Those folks who have already been in the system for a while that maybe were maintaining what they felt like they had to maintain to be successful, that’s changed and they’re not going to have time to bring their GPA up to the acceptable levels,” he said.

“We’re concerned and we want to try to find a way to help offset that need,” Tanner added.

Another concern the foundation has is costs of textbooks, which Tanner said is often half the cost of technical college expenses.

“That’s a big part of the educational process and the cost of it,” he said.

Tanner, who is also the Dawson County manager, said the idea came from an event previously held at the Dawson County Senior Center.

“It’s been very successful, so we thought it would be good to do it in Hall County,” Tanner said.

The shoot will begin at 8:30 a.m. at the Walters Farm in Lula.

“We’ll just have a nice day, nice event and raise money for scholarships,” he said.

The shoot will be limited to 40 shooters and involve 20 hay bale stations spread out in a circle around the field. In the center will be a release station with birds released two or three at a time.

The birds will be equally divided, iced and given to shooters to take home. Tickets are being sold for $275.

Hay bale sponsorships are also being sold to businesses to support the event.

Tanner said the goal is to raise $10,000 and they hope to help as many students as possible.

Scholarships can range from $100 to $1,000, depending on the need of the student.

“We’re also working on some other fundraisers and some other programs ... so we’re looking at the need across the board,” he said.