Vantagepoint Memorial Scholarships honor fallen firefighters

The Vantagepoint Public Employee Memorial Scholarship Fund presented 40 surviving children and spouses of fallen firefighters and other public safety workers with higher education scholarships at an awards dinner on July 14 at Union Station in Washington, DC. The scholarships are for the 2008/09 school year.

Established in 2001 by ICMA-RC and its Board of Directors, the Scholarship Fund honors the lives of the nation’s firefighters and other state and local government employees who have died in the line of duty. Since its inception, the Fund has awarded over 200 scholarships totaling more than $600,000. This year’s recipients included 16 children of fallen firefighters.

Scholarship applicants are eligible for selection if they are the child or spouse of a local or state government employee who has died in the line of duty and planning to study full-time at an accredited 2- or 4-year college, university or vocational-technical school. Applicants are also selected based on factors including academic record, demonstrated leadership in school and community activities, honors, work experience and personal or family circumstances. Financial need is also considered.

Award recipients participated in a “Heart of America” tour of Washington, D.C., on July 14 that included a trip to the District of Columbia Company 3 Fire Station museum and memorial. Many of the recipients were seeing Washington for the first time before they attended the annual Vantagepoint Public Employee Memorial Scholarship awards dinner in the evening.

The Vantagepoint Public Employee Memorial Scholarship Fund is made possible in part through the generosity of contributing donors.

For more complete information, visit www.vantagescholar.org.