April 6, 2015 -- The Officers Spouses’ Club at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany awarded scholarships and grants to area graduating seniors and to community organizations in a ceremony held, here, May 5.
Maj. Gen. John J. Broadmeadow, commanding general, Marine Corps Logistics Command, and his wife, Karen, hosted the event.
The Broadmeadow’s residence was bustling with the voices of parents and scholarship recipients, who were rewarded for their academic accomplishments, as well as the representatives/recipients of grants also awarded by the OSC in their 2015 Community Enrichment and Scholarship Award Reception.
The ceremony resulted in grants being awarded to the Albany Composite Squadron, Georgia Wing, Civil Air Patrol; the Young Men’s Christian Association of Albany, Inc. and Dogs on Deployment (of California).
Students Rachael Broome, Homeschool; Daniella Elzie, Lee County High School; Jordan Groves, Westover High School; Megan Hogan, Lee County High School and Christian Wallace, Deerfield-Windsor School, were recipients of the five college scholarships.
According to OSC 2nd Vice President, Kara Collins, a scholarship committee reviewed applicants’ packets and essays and made the final determination of the winning candidates for both the scholarships and the grants.
“Today represented our hard work as an organization,” Collins said. “We have worked all year to put together events to have the funds to be able to give to the students, who worked so tirelessly their entire high school career, to be able to earn an academic scholarship. And, to our (non-profit) community organizations to say, ‘Thank you so much for all that you do for us. We want to reward you all so that you can continue to help us and others.’”
Parent Deidre Groves commented on the scholarships awarded to her daughter, Jordan, who has been accepted at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York.
Groves, secretary to the commanding general, LOGCOM, said she was “overwhelmed” when she found out her daughter had been selected by the OSC to receive an award.
“You don’t know how much this means to us in getting her to where she needs to be,” the tearful mother said. “I’ve always told my kids, ‘You do your part, make the decision of where you want to go and I’ll do what I can to get you there.’ When I got the letter in the mail and opened it – just tears. This is just awesome; it’s not what I expected at all. I’m very pleased and I’m very thankful.”
Dana Wallace, director of Human Resources, Marine Corps Community Services, MCLB Albany, said her son, Christian plans to attend Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.
Christian Wallace, the sole male OSC scholarship recipient, gave a brief description of the major he will be studying once he arrives at Iowa State University.
“I will be majoring in Aerospace Engineering,” Christian said. “(That deals with) aerodynamic designs, mainly for airplanes; however, you can actually use aerodynamics for (designing) cars, boats and other vehicles.”
The Community Enrichment and Scholarship Award Reception is an annual event organized and hosted by the OSC.