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NWFMOA Scholarship Fund, Inc. A Brief istory of the Organization (As compiled by Dave Parisot, President, 2015-2023)
The NWFMOA Scholarship Fund was
established in May 1981 for the purpose of recognizing
outstanding JROTC students in the five Okaloosa County High
Schools of Baker, Crestview, Fort Walton Beach, Choctawhatchee,
and Niceville.
The program was approved by
the Board of Officers of Northwest Florida Chapter of The
Retired Officers Association (TROA). In 1982 the Scholarship
Committee selected Cadet Blum of Crestview High School from the
five nominees of the Okaloosa County high schools with JROTC
programs. Funds for this first scholarship of $500 came from a
golf tournament and cash donations. [Source:
Email from Bob Secrest to
Frank Glunn, Feb 2012] The NWFROC Scholarship Fund, Inc. was
established with the Internal Revenue Service as a Chapter
501c(3) non-profit organization in March 1997. When The
Retired Officers Association (TROA) changed its name to the
Military Officers Association (MOAA), the organizational name
was changed with the IRS to the NWFMOA Scholarship Fund, Inc in
2003. Prior to 2015, scholarship awards of
$500 were made to a JROTC cadet form each of the five Okaloosa
County high schools with JROTC programs: Baker School,
Choctawhatchee H.S., Crestview H.S., Fort Walton Beach H.S., and
Niceville H.S.
At the
2015 Annual Board of Directors meeting on Feb. 25, 2015, the
Scholarship Board unanimously approved increasing the
scholarship amounts to $1,500 for each of the five high school
JROTC programs, and the winner from each school would be
interviewed by the Scholarship Committee to select the winner of
the $3,000 scholarship to be paid out over two years.
Scholarships awarded totaled $9,000 that year. A formal
scholarship application was adopted with academic, community
service, and leadership criteria and the requirement for
scholarship winners to enroll in ROTC at their college. In
addition, scholarship checks will be paid direct to the colleges
after receipt of letters of enrollment from both the college and
the ROTC unit. The “Policies and Procedures for
Scholarship Selections and Awards” and the “Scholarship
Application” were adopted and posted on the NWFMOA website of
www.nwfmoa.org.
At the Annual Board of Directors meeting
on Jan. 17, 2018, the Scholarship Fund Board of Directors
unanimously approved increasing the number of scholarships
awarded to seven by adding the JROTC programs at Navarre and
Walton High Schools. The scholarship amounts were
increased to $2,000 to each of seven JROTC high school programs.
The winner from each school would appear before the Scholarship
Committee for interviews/questions to select the winner of the
$4,000 “Lt. Col. James “Jim” Heavener Memorial Scholarship”.
This scholarship was created to honor Jim for his bequest of
substantial funds to the Scholarship Fund upon his death in
Sept. 2016. The Board also unanimously approved
designating one of the Okaloosa County scholarships as the
“Chong Cha (Kim) Parisot Memorial Scholarship” in memory of the
deceased wife of David Parisot who will fund this scholarship
annually. Thus the total amount of awarded scholarships for 2018
was $16,000. This amount of scholarship awards was continued for
2019. At the annual Board of Directors meeting
in January 2020, the scholarship amounts were increased to
$2,500 for each JROTC cadet plus the top scholarship of $4,000
for the “Lt. Col. James and Mrs. Una Heavener Memorial
Scholarship”. An additional scholarship of $2,500 was
added, thus bringing the total of awarded scholarships to eight
and the total amount of $21,500. This program of eight
scholarships totaling $21,500 was continued for 2021. The Scholarship Fund Board met in November 2021 and agreed to increase each of the scholarships by $500, i.e., from $2,500 to $3,000 and from $4,000 to $4,500 for the Heavener Scholarship. Thanks to the generosity of Dr. Howard and Mrs. Irene Fisher, we will be awarding an additional scholarship starting in 2022. Thank you Howard and Irene! (See below for the complete list of endowed scholarships.) Thus, in 2022, we will have eight scholarships available at $3,000 each and one for $4,500. This scholarship program is not possible without the generosity of our Chapter members and Business donors. We also created an Educational Support Grant program for our seven local JROTC units. At a special board of directors meeting in April 2022, we added two additional scholarships at the junior and senior college level of ROTC of $4,000 each. To be eligible, one of the criteria is that the ROTC cadet must be a graduate of one of twelve local high schools in Okaloosa or Walton counties, plus Navarre HS. Click on the icons above for more information on the JROTC and UWF ROTC Scholarship programs, and the Educational Support Grant program. In the period of 2015 through 2022, the
NWFMOA Scholarship Fund, Inc. has awarded 39 scholarships to
local JROTC cadets totaling over $100,000. Total
scholarships awarded since 1982 total over $125,000. Our
Scholarship Program is a way of promoting one of the missions of
NWFMOA “To help build future military officers and leaders”. At the annual Scholarship Board of
Directors meeting in 2015, the Board revived the recognition
program for those who donate $100 or more to the Scholarship
Fund and renamed it the BG Frank Glunn Century Club in memory of
a previous past-President. In January 2017 the Scholarship
Board unanimously adopted a new recognition program for our BG
Frank Glunn Century Club members. It is called the “Gold
Century Club”. It recognizes those who have donated $500
or more cumulatively since we reactivated the Century Club in
2015. Gold Club members receive a Certificate of Membership upon
entry with the certificates presented at the annual Scholarship
luncheon, The Scholarship Fund and the JROTC cadets who receive
our scholarships are most thankful for all donations to the
Fund. In 2017 the Scholarship Funds “Business
Donor Program” was established to recognize those local
businesses who donate to the program, either by monetary or
‘in-kind’ donations. Four levels of donations were set:
“Business Bronze Donors” ($100-$249); “Business Silver Donors”
($250-$499); “Business Gold Donors” ($500-$749); and, “Business
Platinum Donors” ($750+). The NWFMOA Scholarship Fund, Inc. is an IRS approved 501c(3) non-profit corporation. Donations to the Fund are tax deductible as approved by law. The Scholarship Fund is also registered as a non-profit charity with the Florida Dept. of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The Scholarship Fund officers and directors are all volunteers and serve without compensation. Endowed scholarships as of May 2022: The “Lt. Col. James ‘Jim’ Heavener, USAF, Ret., and Mrs. Una Heavener Memorial Scholarship” of $4,500 (established in 2018 and funded by the Heavener estate); the “Chong Cha (Kim) Parisot Memorial Scholarship” of $3,000 (established in 2017 and funded by Maj. Dave Parisot); and, the “Dr. (Lt. Col., USAF, Ret.) Howard and Mrs. Irene Fisher Scholarship” of $3,000 (established in 2022 and funded by the Fishers). In 2023 Dr. Fred Westfall (Lt. Col, USAF Ret. and Jan Westfall and Col Karl Eschmann (USAF, Ret) and Charlotte Eschmann also created Endowed Scholarships. Below is the complete list of Endowed Scholarships, our Gold Century Club members ($500 cumulative minimum donation since 2015) and BG Frank Glunn Century Club members ($100 minimum donation) for the most previous 12 months along with our Business Donors. Your support is greatly appreciated. All of these donations are used to fund our scholarships. [Note: (D) means deceased and (R) means Renewal of membership.]. Endowed Scholarships: Lt Col Jim and Mrs Una Heavener (via their estate effective 2018), Dave Parisot in memory of his wife, Chong Cha (Kim) Parisot (effective 2017), and Dr (Lt Col) Howard and Mrs Irene Fisher (effective 2022), and Dr. (Lt Col, USAF, Ret) Fred and Mrs. Jan Westfall Scholarship (effective 2023), and Col Karl Eschmann (USAF, Ret) and Mrs. Charlotte Eschmann Scholarship (effective 2024).
April
Please support our local businesses that have contributed to our
scholarship program.
         Click to visit each service website For additional information: NWFMOA, P.O. Box 1213, Shalimar, FL 32579 • info@nwfmoa.org Copyright © 2010- - Northwest Florida Military Officers Association - All Rights Reserved. |
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