VFW Awards Nearly $790,000 in College Tuition for Veterans
More than 170 student veterans have been awarded scholarships for the fall semester
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (August 7, 2018) – The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is pleased to announce 172 student veterans have been chosen as 2018 fall semester recipients of the VFW’s “Sport Clips Help A Hero Scholarship.” Together, these student veterans will receive nearly $790,000 in college scholarships.
For more than a decade, the VFW’s long-standing relationship with Sport Clips Haircuts has focused on assisting service members, veterans and their families. In 2014, the focus expanded to establish the Help A Hero Scholarship program.
With the continued rising costs of education, military education benefits often run out or fall short of covering the full costs of a college education which leaves many student veterans without a degree. The Help A Hero Scholarship provides student veterans with the chance to achieve their education goals without incurring excessive student loan debt.
To date, the Help A Hero program has awarded nearly $5 million in college tuition assistance and has provided scholarships to more than 1,100 service members and veterans.
“Through the generosity of the VFW, Sport Clips, and the many individual donors and supporters, the aspirations and potential of veterans are able to be realized,” said scholarship recipient Andrew Mueller, an Army veteran attending Iowa State University. “Thank you for believing in veterans like myself and in your continued support of servicemen and servicewomen all over our nation. It is because of you that thousands of veterans are able to make continued education a reality.”
View a full list of the 2018 fall scholarship recipients here.
Help A Hero scholarships are awarded exclusively to service members and veterans twice a year and help cover the cost of tuition and fees. Scholarship applications are currently being accepted for the 2019 spring semester.
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ABOUT THE VFW: The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the U.S. is the nation’s largest and oldest major war veterans organization. Founded in 1899, the congressionally-chartered VFW is comprised entirely of eligible veterans and military service members from the active, Guard and Reserve forces. With more than 1.6 million VFW and Auxiliary members located in more than 6,300 Posts worldwide, the nonprofit veterans service organization is proud to proclaim “NO ONE DOES MORE FOR VETERANS” than the VFW, which is dedicated to veterans’ service, legislative advocacy, and military and community service programs. For more information or to join, visit our website at www.VFW.org.
ABOUT SPORT CLIPS HAIRCUTS: Sport Clips Haircuts is headquartered in Georgetown, Texas. It was established in 1993 and began franchising in 1995. The sports-themed haircutting franchise, which specializes in haircuts for men and boys, is ranked by Entrepreneur Magazine as one of the “Fastest-Growing Franchises” and in the top 10 in its “Franchise 500.” There are almost 1,800 Sport Clips stores open in the U.S. and Canada. Sport Clips is the “Official Haircutter” of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), offers veterans preferential pricing on haircuts and franchises, and was named a “2018 Best for Vets: Franchises” by Military Times. Sport Clips provides “haircuts with heart” through its annual Help A Hero fundraiser that has given more than $4.9 million to the VFW; national partnership with St. Baldrick’s Foundation, the largest private funder of childhood cancer research grants; and other national and local philanthropic outreach. Sport Clips is a proud sponsor of Joe Gibbs Racing’s NASCAR drivers Erik Jones and Denny Hamlin, Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser-Sullivan Indy Car driver Sebastien Bourdais, and partners with numerous NCAA and professional sports teams. To learn more about Sport Clips, visit sportclips.com.