Clear Channel Outdoor’s Efforts Help the Patriot Education Fund Reach $500K Milestone
Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
The Patriot Education Fund, the organization that provides college scholarships, and mentoring to Illinois military families, and Clear Channel Outdoor Americas (CCOA) (NYSE: CCO), an indirect subsidiary of iHeart Media Inc., this week announced that the Patriot Education Fund has reached a milestone of awarding USD 500,000 in scholarships to Illinois veterans and their families.
Dave Dahler, Chairman, Patriot Education Fund said “Thanks to key corporate partners like Clear Channel Outdoor, the Patriot Education Fund has raised over $500,000 to provide education benefits for veterans and their families. The Patriot Education Fund and Clear Channel Outdoor partnership has ensured that these American heroes will transition successfully into the private sector.”
Clear Channel Outdoor has been an active supporter of the Patriot Education Fund by donating digital out of home billboards annually to promote scholarships for military veterans.
Mark Slaby, Founder, Patriot Education Fund said “Clear Channel Outdoor has been extremely valuable from our inception by raising awareness of our mission and by making veterans aware of valuable scholarship opportunities. Clear Channel has had a major factor in building awareness of our program and mission to support military families.”
The Patriot Education Fund provides financial and educational assistance to enlisted military veterans (E1 to E5) and their dependents. The organization bridges the unintended funding gaps created by the post 9/11 GI Bill, by providing financial support to individuals pursuing bachelor and associate degrees, accredited technical training diplomas and certified apprenticeship programs. With a 100 percent graduation rate since 2011, the Patriot Education Fund has underwritten135 scholarships with over $500,000 reinvested back into Illinois military families across the state.
A corporate partner to the Patriot Education Fund since 2013, Clear Channel Outdoor has donated complimentary digital out of home advertising from 2016-2018 throughout Northeast Illinois to promote scholarships for military veterans. The billboards ran creative on how to apply for a scholarship through the Patriot Education Fund in over 30 communities.
Ed Marcin, Vice President Public Affairs/Special Projects, Clear Channel Outdoor Chicago told us “We’re proud to support the mission of the Patriot Education Fund over the last five years,” said The Patriot Education Fund provides our local Illinois veterans and their families with access to the educational opportunities they need as they transition from service to our country into successful careers. We honor our veterans for their dedicated services and are so proud of our scholars as they continue to thrive as students and new professionals.”
Four local Illinois residents were named as recipients of the Patriot Education Fund’s Clear Channel Outdoor scholarships for 2018.
- John Leonard Sims of Evergreen Park, Illinois, served as an Army Ranger and was deployed three times to Afghanistan and oversaw training of new Rangers as well as served as a medic. He is in his third semester of college pursuing a degree in Middle Eastern Affairs at Columbia University in New York and has a college GPA of 3.65. John wants to pursue a career with the FBI after college.
- Destiny Williams of Chicago, Illinois, is studying Early Childhood Education at Illinois State University and is a Dean’s List student (top 10%). Both of her parents are veterans, her father was deployed four times, and Destiny would like to become an educator of low-income students and eventually hopes to teach fellow military children.
- Josue Contreras of Chicago, Illinois, was an Army Combat Medic who was deployed two times. Josue saved for his education — but when Hurricane Maria hit Puerto Rico – he and his wife used all his savings to help his family members there. Josue is now a Chicago Public School middle school teacher working with students from low income backgrounds. Impacted by the immense gun violence in his hometown of Chicago, Josue changed his course of study from medicine to becoming a teacher because he saw impacting young people as the greatest need. He is working on his Master’s Degree in Dual Language Teacher Leadership at Roosevelt University having previously graduated summa cum laude from Northeastern Illinois University.
- Leah Staros of Glendale Heights, Illinois, is a 12 year veteran military spouse. Her husband had two deployments to Al Taqqadum, and completed eight years active duty and an additional four years as a reservist. Leah is working to fulfill her dream of becoming a nurse while being a mother and caregiver to a mom who’s in her early stages of dementia. Leah’s requirements outside the classroom make it difficult to fund her pursuit of higher education. The Patriot Education Fund has been “an answer to her prayers.” Her anticipated graduation is May 2019 from the Chamberlain School of Nursing.
For more information on the Patriot Education Fund click here.
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