Three UW-Eau Claire students living in off-campus apartments got a bit of a surprise last semester when they each received a $250 scholarship from their landlords.

Graduate student Aliesha Dehmer and seniors Grant Lissick and Randall Pingrey received scholarships from North Country Aire Properties, University Area Housing and Caron Management, respectively, according to a university press release.

Dehmer, a graduate assistant in the department of communication sciences and disorders, said she was surprised to receive the scholarship.

“I wasn’t expecting it,” she said, adding she didn’t know the scholarship even existed before receiving it.

Dehmer said her scholarship has helped her financially because she isn’t able to make as much money as she’d like to.

“I’m in grad school, so I don’t have much time for an extra job,” she said. “Any little bit of extra money always helps.”

Kimera Way, executive director of development with the Eau Claire Foundation, said Mike Siker, an Eau Claire alumnus and owner of Siker’s Furniture and Carpeting, 124 Graham Ave., initiated the scholarship program.

Siker suggested the idea to the university and then went around to area landlords and proposed the idea to them, Way said.

Scott Gunem, an employee at Caron Management, 202 Water St., said scholarship recipients are chosen randomly. He said his company gives a list of names to the Foundation, which then selects a random student from the list.

“We don’t have any say really in terms of . who gets the scholarship,” Gunem said. “We just provide a list of our tenants .then the Foundation randomly selects a student from the list.”

Jon Metz, owner of North Country Aire Properties, 1221 Menomonie St., said he and his wife provide the money for the scholarship.

Metz added his company’s scholarships are a way of supporting its student tenants.

“We know increased costs for the students are making things more challenging,” he said. “We wanted to help out.”

Gunem had positive things to say about the program and discussed how he feels it benefits students.

“We’ve been real pleased with how everything has gone,” Gunem said.

“I think it’s just a real wonderful program – a good way to show appreciation for UWEC students and . show that we’re aware of how important they are to the community and to our business.”