Purple Heart Recipients Can Have Tuition Paid with New Scholarship
An anonymous donor has given Kirkwood Community College a five-year gift totaling $350,000 to help wounded veterans and their families.
“Simple words can’t express how deeply grateful we are for this generous donation,” said Vicki Terronez, Kirkwood’s veterans services coordinator. “Our wounded heroes and their families deserve all the help we can give them. This new scholarship will go a long way to creating exciting opportunities for these students.”
The Purple Heart Scholarship, founded with this considerate contribution, honors and supports those who earned the Purple Heart, or their spouses and children. Scholarship recipients will have their tuition and books covered for their entire two-year program at Kirkwood. The first awards are expected for the upcoming Spring semester.
The donors, both Kirkwood alums, have been part of the Cedar Rapids community for the last 37 years. As non-traditional students, the married couple balanced raising a family and working full-time while going to college. “Kirkwood is a great school for working parents,” the donor said. “Quality education that is conveniently available is hard to come by. Given the affordable cost and the high caliber of education I received, I think Kirkwood is an outstanding value.”
The plight of America’s wounded warriors resounded deeply with the donors. “It’s so painful to see people who laid their lives on the line for this country while working for horrible pay, in miserable conditions and seldom, if ever, complaining. Often overlooked but just as important are the sacrifices the service member’s family make on our behalf,” the donor said. “We’re excited to do something meaningful to honor our fighting men and women and their families.”
Kirkwood, repeatedly named as a military-friendly school, has become a hub recently for service members. Currently, nearly 800 veterans call Kirkwood their home away from home, and the number is expected to rise.
“We wanted to establish something local, with someone we trust, so that we know every dollar is put to good use,” the donor stressed. “Kirkwood and what they provide for our veterans, and our community as a whole, was an obvious choice.”
The donation comes with a challenge to the community to raise additional funds for those who earned the Purple Heart. “My hope is that others will join in the effort,” the donor said. “If only all Americans could show the selflessness of our service members. This is the chance to provide matching dollars to support courageous people in our own community.”
For more information about the Purple Heart Scholarship at Kirkwood Community College, please contact Jody Donaldson, scholarship and alumni director, at 319-398-7186.