Naval Helicopter Association Scholarship Fund Let's Do This By CAPT Arne Nelson, USN (Ret.) President
I
was asked a few weeks ago if the Scholarship Team had anything to say…and I replied, “We, the scholarship committee, always have TWO things to say: 1) Donate …and 2) Apply!”
"Old Buck"
1. Donate! Our goal in May 2021 is to award fifteen $3,000 Scholarships - $45,000. Our 2020 fundraising effort has been successful, and we are well on the way to achieving that goal. Let’s recap the year in fundraising. Thanks to the success of #GivingTuesday, individual donations and memorial gifts (like those in the name of Emma Therese Jordon and HSL-37 Easyriders Alumni) added to over 70 individual donations. We originally aimed low, with a goal of $6000, because, truthfully, we did not know what to expect. However, we were encouraged with some of the early donations, so we reset the goal to $9,000. As the donations came in, both before and after 1 December, we were amazed at the generosity of our Active Duty and Retired Shipmates, bringing in over $13,000 – which will fully fund four scholarships. Corporate funding has been solid as well. With fundraising requests to CAE, FLIR, Leonardo, USS Midway Museum, NFCU, Sikorsky/Lockheed Martin, and the NHA Historical Society, we are on track to fully fund EIGHT scholarships. Thanks to the forward thinking of past-year Scholarship Committees, we invested significant gifts from Kaman Memorial, Ream Family Memorial and Raytheon (for our top STEM Selectee), which, in perpetuity, provides funds for three scholarships. Our sound investments also ensure we can make our goal. Shipmates, thank you for the terrific response to the Giving Tuesday Event. The final numbers will come in with the end of the year and we’ll let you know how we did, together. 2. Apply! Our application window is 1 September through 31 January. Our goal in May 2021 is to select Fifteen well-qualified and eligible applicants from a pool of at least 45 top quality NHA members, spouses, and children/grandchildren (Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard). In February, the Committee will prepare the regional application packets and fire them to the NHA Regions. There, each Regional President and Team will rack and stack their package. In March, the Regional Presidents will return their recommendations to the Committee. In April, the Scholarship Committee will collate the results and prepare a slate of 15 principals and 3 alternates for award for the Board of Directors Meeting in April or May 2021. Once approved, the Scholarship Committee will alert the regions, notify the award winners, and send the scholarship information to the appropriate university office. NHA Scholarship Eligibility: The sponsor must be a current member of NHA in good standing for three (3) years (since 31 January 2018); or the sponsor must be a new NHA Lifetime Member on or after 15 February 2020.
Passengers disembark from a Helicopter Combat Support Squadron 4 (HC-4) CH-53E 161539 “Betty” carrying members of the Italian media after it landed on the helicopter pad of the battleship, USS Missouri (BB 63). 17
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