Gloria Dobbie
2019-2020 National Scholarships Ambassador
Continuing Education Scholarship
The total number of qualified entries will be shared in my next blog. Conference winners will be announced May 1. Auxiliary members, their spouse, son or daughter who are in need of financial assistance to pursue higher education may apply for the 2020-2021 Continuing Education Scholarship beginning July 1, 2020. It’s never too early to plan!
Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest
The deadline for entries to your local Auxiliary is approaching fast! Be sure to check these off your to do list before the local contest deadline of March 31:
- Reach out to the schools and youth groups who received the information on the contest.
- Encourage them to view the National Auxiliary website at vfwauxiliary.org/scholarships to view past winning art entries.
- Follow up with answers to their questions.
- Remind students to review the rules of the contest to avoid any disqualifications.
- Schedule the judging.
Eligibility:
- Any student in grades 9-12 who is enrolled in a public, private or parochial high school or home study program in the United States.
- Maximum student age of 18 at time of local entry.
- Student must be a U.S. citizen or U.S. national.
- It is not a requirement to be related to a VFW or VFW Auxiliary member to participate, but the student must attend school in the same state as the sponsoring VFW Auxiliary.
Helpful Information:
- Two- and three-dimensional art is acceptable based on the specifications in the entry brochure.
- Digital art, photography, and jewelry ARE NOT accepted.
- Instruct the student to follow the rules precisely as described on the contest application to avoid disqualification.
- Visit the Scholarships section of the Program & Publicity Resources page of the website for:
- Brochure order form
- A printable brochure and contest application
- Redesigned scoresheet
- Redesigned and updated helpful hints
Contest Deadlines:
- Deadline for entries to your local Auxiliary is March 31, 2020.
- Deadline for Auxiliary first-place winning entries to the Department Chairman is April 15, 2020.
- Deadline for first-place Department winning entries to National Headquarters is May 5, 2020.
- Judges consider Patriotic Theme and technique in making their decisions.
National Awards:
- First Place – $15,000.00
- Second Place – $7,500.00
- Third Place – $3,500.00
- Fourth and Fifth Place – $1,500.00
- Sixth through Ninth Place – $500.00
I have heard from some Department Chairmen how their Auxiliaries promoted the Young American Creative Patriotic Art Contest with an emphasis on the word “Creative.” Auxiliaries are encouraging students to use three-dimensional artwork such as ceramics, leather, fabric, metalwork and wood. If an Auxiliary submits a three-dimensional entry, please share a picture with me. I am looking forward to seeing the two- and three-dimensional entries submitted in this year’s contest.
Patriotic Art Fund
Help fund the artists of tomorrow! Please send a donation to the Young American Creative Patriotic Art Escrow Fund! To donate, send a check earmarked Patriotic Art to:
VFW Auxiliary National Headquarters
Attn: Patriotic Art Fund
406 W. 34th Street, 10th Floor
Kansas City, MO 64111
Your generous donations are greatly appreciated and enable National Headquarters to increase the amount of the awards. Have you made your donation yet?
Voice of Democracy and Patriot’s Pen
The winning entries from each Department in the Voice of Democracy contest are meeting in Washington, D.C. to receive their national awards on March 2, 2020. The first-place national winner in the Patriot’s Pen contest will be receiving their award, too. This is the culmination of a successful year for these contests. I have the privilege to attend this year’s event and encourage members to watch the livestream of the VFW Parade of Winners on Tuesday, March 2 beginning at 6:00 p.m. EST at https://www.vfw.org/vfwdc2020. Thank you for assisting the VFW in promoting this Program.
Please continue to share our scholarship opportunities with your community while “Serving Our Veterans with Aloha!”
