by Chad Garland
The Illinois patriotic youth organization will reveal results of annual service project to support Illinois veterans and military families on Saturday
| On Feb. 25, the Illinois State Children of the American Revolution (ISCAR) will honor Illinois Patriot Education Fund 501(c)3 during its annual state conference. ISCAR is the Illinois state chapter of the National Society of the Children of the American Revolution (CAR), the nation’s oldest and largest patriotic youth organization.
ISCAR has been raising funds and spreading awareness about Illinois Patriot Education Fund, (IPEF) as part of its annual service project for 2011-2012, under the theme “Building Blocks for Education.” The organization will reveal the results of its efforts during the its 74th annual Illinois state conference at the Hilton Lisle/Naperville, 3003 Corporate West Drive, Lisle, Ill. Each year the ISCAR state president selects a project of historical or patriotic significance that will benefit the society and the state. This year, the worthy objective of supporting the educational aspirations of our service men and women and those of their families inspired the society’s president Caitlin M. Collins to select IPEF as the beneficiary of the 2011-2012 state project. “In the last ten years, everyone has been touched by the sacrifices made by military families who hail from Illinois,” Collins wrote in her announcement of the project on ISCAR’s website. “It is time for each and every one of us to return the favor.” |
Donors who gave $10 or more to ISCAR’s annual project received a lapel pin featuring this image. (Image courtesy of ISCAR.) |
As part of the project, ISCAR members, who are all under 21 years old and lineally descended from recognized patriots, soldiers, sailors or civil officers of the American Independence, solicited donations throughout the state and distributed lapel pins to donors who gave $10 or more toward the cause.
The efforts these young patriots have put forward is already a great honor for IPEF, but it will also have a genuine impact in the lives of Illinois service members and their families. Government education benefits, such as the Post-9/11 GI Bill offer tremendous support for veterans, but often those benefits do not extend to the families of these brave men and women, which can create hardships and financial burdens. As many as 85 percent of military spouses and children are not eligible to receive the educational benefits the wounded veterans have earned.
Illinois Patriot Education Fund fills the gap by providing scholarships not only to the veterans and service members themselves, but to their children, from kindergarten through college.
In December 2011, IPEF distributed $13,000 to support Operation Homefront Illinois’ Backpack Brigade, which provides school supplies to more than 1,000 Illinois children from military families. Also in December, IPEF provided the Pat Tillman Foundation with $9,000 to support Tillman Military Scholar David Glass, an Air Force pararescuman from Oak Forest, Ill., who is currently pursuing his Doctor of Medicine, Trauma Surgery and Rural Medicine at the University of Illinois. In January, through Student Veterans of America, IPEF awarded seven $1,000 scholarships for veterans attending Illinois universities.
Under Collins’ leadership, ISCAR’s annual project will enable IPEF to provide continued support for veterans and their families as increasing numbers of veterans are expected to enroll in colleges and universities throughout the state.
Contact Illinois Patriot Education Fund founder and executive director Mark Slaby or ISCAR Senior State President Robert Collins (illinoiscar <at> yahoo.com) for additional information.
Chad Garland is an Illinois Patriot Education Fund intern and a student veteran at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he helped found Illini Veterans, a student organization that seeks to help veterans transition to campus and on to post-transition careers. Garland is a graduate student studying Journalism.