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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 our Endowed Scholarships,
our Gold Century Club
members ($500 cumulative minimum donation) and our
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 Memorial Scholarship (D)
(via their estate, effective 2018); Dave Parisot in
memory of his wife, Chong Cha (Kim) Parisot) (effective
2017); Dr (Lt Col, USAF, Ret.) Howard and Mrs. Irene Fisher
Scholarship (effective 2022); Dr. (Lt. Col., USAF, Ret.)
Fred and Mrs. Jan Westfall Scholarship (effective 2023);
and, Col. (USAF, Ret.) Karl and Mrs. Charlotte Eschmann
Scholarship (effective 2024).
Gold Century Club:
Bill Ryan (Feb 2016);
Ruth Cullen,
(D) (Oct 2016);
Dave Parisot (Feb
2017); Janet Taylor
(Mar 2017); Chris Beam
(Mar 2017); Bob Garcia
(D) (July 2017);
Rod Gerdes (Nov
2017); Larry Bush
(Nov 2017); Dr. Howard &
Irene Fisher (Nov 2017);
Eileen Arpke
(D) (Feb 2018);
Fred & Jan Westfall (Apr 2018);
Clyde Locke (D) (Apr
2018); WWII, Korea, and Vietnam Veteran
Sam Lombardo
(D)
(July 2018); Dennis Phillips (Aug 2018);
Karl & Charlotte Eschmann (Oct 2018);
Carol Baker (Jan
2019); Ann Adelsperger
(Feb 2019); Don Litke
(Aug 2019); Fred Boyer
(D) (Aug 2019).Dr.
Keith & Elizabeth Kulow (Nov 2019);
Al Bills (Nov. 2019);
Kay Dent (Nov. 2019);
Dr. Roger Riggenbach
(Dec 2019); Robert “Pete”
Peterzen (Dec 2019);
Nick Marotta (Oct
2020); Kathy &
Jesse Bush (Dec 2020);
Patt & Caroline Maney
(Dec 2020); Kevin Kirby
(Apr 2021); Scott & Janet
Berry (May 2021); Douglas Hardin (D) (Sept 2021);
Patrick & Mosla Boab (Dec. 2021); Bob Allen
(Feb 2022); Bobbi Hanson Garcia (Mar 2022); Joy Houck
(Mar 2022); George Colton (May 2022); Bob Secrest
(May 2022); Brig. Gen Fran & Mrs Connie Hendricks (Oct
2022); Les Matheson (Feb 2023); Dan Brown (April
2023); Tess Bass (August 2023);
Bob Gramm (Dec 2023); Larry Tashlik (Dec
2023); Jean
Dutton (D) (Oct 2024) and Jeff Watson (Oct 2024)
[Note: 44 total members]
BG Frank Glunn Century Club
(past 12 months) (R=Renewal): December 2023:
Les Matheson (R); Jeff Watson
(R) (In memory of Maj. John Besten, USAF, Ret.);
Karl and Charlotte
Eschmann (R);
Bob Gramm (R); Brig. Gen. Fran &
Connie Hendricks
(R); Larry Tashlik (R); Kay Dent
(In memory of Troy Dent and Larry Kettter); and,
Janet Ryan Taylor
(R) (In honor of Major Bill Ryan); February 2024:
Rod Gerdes
(R); March 2024:
Don Litke (R); Kevin Kirby
(R); April 2024:
Fred Westfall (R); Dennis Phillips
(R); and Dr. Keith Kulow (R); May
2024: Bob
Secrest (R);
Al Bills (R);
Bob Cluskey; and Dave Parisot
(R) (In memory of Phil Krajeck);
George Colton (R); August 2024:
Bob Cluskey (R);
Scott & Janet
Berry (R);
Chuck Merkel (R); and
Dave Parisot (R) (In memory of Eileen Arpke); October2024:
Dave Parisot (In memory of Jean Dutton);
Jeff Watson
(R); November 2024:
Kay Dent (R); Pete Peterzen
(R); and Karl and Charlotte Eschmann
(R); Fred and Jan
Westfall (R);
Bob Gramm (R);
Howard Fisher (R); and Dave Parisot
(R) (In memory od Chong Parisot)
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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