Jan. 12--HERRICK TOWNSHIP -- When gas companies started coming to Kevin and Becky Smith to ask the couple about leasing their land, they decided that any money earned from gas drilling would be used to endow a scholarship fund.

The Smiths, of Herrick Township, created the Learning Forward Project, which was officially formed on Jan. 1, as a scholarship program for students and adults going back to school.

The purpose of the non-profit corporation is "to provide scholarships for students attending college or trade school and for other charitable purposes approved by the board," according to the articles of incorporation.

Becky Smith said that when she went back to college, there was "not a lot of money out there for adults looking to go back to school."

She said she wondered about those who don't have financial support to get them through college, and said she and Kevin Smith were looking to give back to the community.

When gas companies started coming through the area talking about gas leasing opportunities, the Smiths said they began to think about the money that they could get by leasing their land.

"He said, 'Let's just give it away,'" Becky Smith said of her husband. She said they decided that there were kids in the local area who may need financial aid to get to college.

Sam Sheets of Southwestern Energy, a gas company that the Smiths have been discussing gas leasing with, said that he thought the Smiths' idea to use the money made from gas leasing for a scholarship fund was a creative idea. "It would be nice to have that money going to a charity," Sheets said.

With the offers the Smiths had originally received from gas companies for their two parcels of land, Kevin Smith said they could receive around $450,000 for leasing their land, though they have not signed with the gas companies yet. He said that when they sign, if the companies hit gas, the amount for the scholarship fund "could be substantial."

The decisions of who will get the scholarship money will be made by a board of people yet to be assembled. The board will receive applications from the area, narrow down the choices, and interview possible candidates for the scholarship, Becky Smith said.

Primarily, the support will go to students and adults in Bradford County looking to fund their education, Kevin Smith said.

Eventually, though not in the first year of the program, the Smiths said they would like to expand the program to try to help dependents or spouses of military members who had been killed under any circumstance.

"Spouses and dependants would have first-tier considerations," Kevin Smith said.