Leading up to this year’s 36th Annual Golf Tournament, we have been talking quite a bit about scholarships, and I thought I’d share some of the information with you since it’s what we’re raising funds for this year.
While the parameters have changed to comply with federal laws, the UMC Foundation has offered scholar- ships to staff for many years. Going back 10 years, the Foundation has provided over $43,000 in scholarships to 13 staff members, including three of our most recent awardees: Adora Avila, Erica Samuels and Priscilla Stark (more on them later). One of the biggest changes recently was no longer requiring a work commitment for scholarship recipients.
Amounts vary each year, depending on how many staff members apply and how much funding is available. Past gifts were in the $1,000-$2,500 range, which we know is a “drop in the bucket” compared to overall education costs, especially in health care. So this year we did our best to increase awards.
There were only a couple years where perhaps a staff member’s educational plans changed or life caused them to pause their programs for a time, and no scholarship dollars were awarded. In those years, we shifted any available funds from our Provider/Staff Endowment to continuing education needs, sending staff to conferences where they learned more about their respective specialties. As many of us know, these conferences are extremely beneficial. Then staff bring the latest news and techniques back to our patients.
Our most recent scholarship winners have wonderful goals for improving their levels of care. Adora is finishing her Practical Nursing program at Northland Community & Technical College and plans to start the Registered Nurse program in the near future. Occupational Therapy Assistant Erica Samuels is seeking her Doctorate in Occupational Therapy degree from Concordia University Wisconsin, a program that is primarily online but requires monthly in-person visits on weekends. Priscilla is earning her Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner degree from Walden University, also online. These are all wonderful programs that will im- prove the quality of care at UMC. We are so happy to support these staff members’ educational goals.
Keep an eye on our Facebook page for more staff education highlights leading up to our Golf Tournament scheduled for July 9. We hope to see you there!
Lastly, I want to thank the donors who have generously agreed to support our Park River Family Clinic project, especially Mark and Pam Bertilrud, Josh and Kirsten Lien, MDU Resources Foundation, Monty and Kari Novak, Polar Communications, Brad and Nadine Schanilec, Jim and Carol Tallackson, along with 15 others, and more still being added to the list. This project has been a change from our usual fundraising centered in Grafton, but this clinic in Park River will benefit so many surrounding communities seeking health care in rural North Dakota.
