KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

KB6NU's Ham Radio Blog

scholarship

Apply for ARRL Foundation Scholarships starting on September 1

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This is just a straight repost of an ARRL news story to help get the work out….Dan

Applications for the 2020 ARRL Foundation Scholarship Program will be accepted between September 1 and December 31, 2019. All applicants must be FCC-licensed radio amateurs, and many scholarships have other specific requirements, such as intended area of study, residence within a particular ARRL Division, Section or state, and license class.

Applicants should review the scholarships and check off the ones for which they are eligible. If you complete an online application, you must also email a PDF of academic transcripts from your most-recently completed school year by January 13, 2020. Applications not accompanied by transcripts will not be considered.

The ARRL Foundation Scholarship Committee will review all applicants for eligibility and award decisions. Scholarship recipients will be notified in May 2020 via USPS mail and email. For more information, visit the ARRL Foundation Scholarship Program page.

The Silent Key Scholarship Fund

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Roger, W8ZRF, SK

Over the span of less than a year, ARROW, our amateur radio club, has lost two of its long-time members: Clay, W8JNZ, and Roger, W8ZRF. Clay passed in December 2017, Roger in October 2018. These guys headed up our first VE team, were great hams, and great human beings.

When Clay died, I got it into my head that I wanted to start a scholarship in his name. He was always ready to help young people get started in the hobby. I contacted the local community college and got in touch with a fellow who headed up their foundation, who explained to me all the ins and outs of doing this.

Alas, it proved to be more work that I thought originally, and I put it on the back burner. When Roger passed a couple of months ago, I decided to give it another try. As a way to get us started, Roger’s family agreed to donate his equipment, which we are now in the process of selling, with the proceeds going to the scholarship fund. Roger didn’t have a lot of modern gear, but even so, I’m estimating that we’ll net over $1,000 by the time we’re through selling his stuff.

I think that our club is good for probably another $1,000, but after that, I’m not really sure how to go about raising the rest of the money. I had thought about setting up a GoFundMe, but have never really done that before. I had thought about writing a grant proposal for part of the funding. Clay was a vice president of DTE, our local electrical utility, and they have a foundation that awards grants to various charitable organizations. I’m not sure that this scholarship fund is something that they’d be willing to donate to.

If any of you have ever done something like this, or if your club has funded a scholarship like this, I’d like to hear from you. I need all the help I can get here.