It's that time of year again - your chance to shine! 2019 marks the nineteenth year of our Scholarship Program, and I am pleased to tell you that the program has never been stronger, thanks to your consistent and active support. 2018 was our best year ever for support of our scholarship program. Bravo Zulu for your outstanding generosity. Over the past eighteen years, your collective giving has yielded $111,500 in scholarships, helping some 54 students achieve their educational goals. Awards have been presented to some 19 NROTC midshipmen, eight Seaman to Admiral (STA-21) Program Officer Candidates, thirteen Marines in the Marine Enlisted Commissioning Education Program (MECEP), and fourteen descendants of Association members. In 2018, your generous giving enabled us to award 6 scholarships, including 1 to descendants of our members. This year, I trust your unwavering support will enable us to continue or perhaps even exceed that number of awards. If you hm e children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren in college, make them aware of this financial opportunity and encourage them to apply. For more information on descendant scholarship eligibility, see the scholarship section of the Association's website (www.usslittlerock.org.)

I think it is a privilege and honor to serve with the other members of our scholarship committee to continue scholarship support to our outstanding descendant, NROTC cadets and MECEP applicants. I do want to publicly thank Cliff Wilson and Art Tilley for stepping forward and volunteering to make presentations in Iowa and Vermont on your behalf. Please refer to the scholarship section of our website to find details on all of our scholarship presentations. Since most of you will never experience first-hand the pride one feels when presenting these awards, I invite and encourage each of you to instead provide the financial support that makes the scholarships possible. Clearly, the program cannot succeed without you - indeed, it requires an annual fresh input of $12,000 to sustain six annual awards. Please send in your tax-deductible donation - in whatever amount is comfortable for you. Payments may be made by credit card via PayPal, by clicking on the "Make Donation" link on the home page of our website at www.usslittlerock.org. Or you may contribute via check - payable to "USS Little Rock Association Scholarship Fund" and you may use the enclosed envelope to submit your donation. If you are viewing this letter on our website and wish to make a donation, please mail your check to: Frank Berglas - Treasurer 63 Barnes Rd, Stamford, CT 06902-1201. You can be confident that your donation will make a difference for some very deserving students. I offer these comments received in 2018:

Bottom line - your involvement is critical to our success. Invest nm, in our future generations. I thank each of you in advance for being a part of this very important outreach which provides vital financial support for members of our Navy, Marine Corps, and Little Rock families. Please give generously!

Sincerely,

Donald H. Elliott
Vice President, Scholarships