MIAMI – Two scholarships are being offered to students in South Florida and in Jamaica, by the Jamaica Ex-Police Association of South Florida (JEPA), as part of its annual scholarship award program.
Applications are now being accepted by the Association. The deadline for submission is March 31, 2010.
Both scholarships totaling $1,600 (US) will be awarded to a college freshman in the United States and a student attending high school in Jamaica. The scholarships are one time cash awards based on financial need and scholastic aptitude.
“The scholarships are awarded annually by the Jamaica Ex-Police Association in its effort to assist students in the South Florida community and Jamaica,” according to Malachi Smith, public relations officer of the Florida chapter. He continued that the awards are used primarily to purchase school supplies and uniforms, meet financial needs and to further the scholarship of the student.
Applications for the South Florida community will be awarded to a student currently residing in the tri-county region of Dade, Broward or Palm Beach, and attending a tertiary institution in that area.
Presentation of the scholarship will take place at the annual scholarship banquet of the Association to take place on Saturday, April 17, at the Faith Tabernacle Banquet Hall in Sunrise.
A first-year biology student at Nova Southeastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Miss Monique Gordon, was one of the recipients of last year’s scholarship program (2009). Pursuing studies in pharmacology, she explained the benefits of her scholarship noting that it was useful “in helping me with purchase of my books throughout the semester.” Miss Gordon, who is of Jamaican descent, said that she had learnt of the scholarship through her parents.
Meanwhile, applications are also open to high school students in Jamaica and the selection process is managed by the Community Relations Division of the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF). The awards ceremony will take place at the JEPA’s annual work day program slated for Alligator Pond Police Station in Manchester.
According to Mr. Smith, the Association’s scholarship committee is working in tandem with schools in Alligator Pond to search for potential students in that area.
So far, some 10 students have benefited for the annual scholarship program from the Jamaica Ex-Police Association which coincides with their annual work program carried out at police stations across the island.
For further information, you may send your inquiries at [email protected] or call 954-297-7062.
The Jamaica Ex-Police Association, South Florida chapter, has a membership of nearly 100 former members of the Jamaica Constabulary Force. Other chapters are active in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
