A record-breaking donation from the founder of FedEx will help send thousands of kids of marines and sailors to college, career and technical education programs.
FedEx founder Fred Smith, who is also a Marine Corps veteran, donated $65 million to the Alexandria, Virginia-based Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation, the largest in the foundation’s 60-year history.
Half of the donation will continue the foundation’s mission of providing needs-based scholarships to Marine children. Retired Col. Harold Van Opdorp, the foundation’s COO, told WTOP it will increase the number of scholarships awarded annually.
“The children in the Marines who receive our scholarship say that that scholarship had a significant impact,” Van Opdorp told WTOP.
The other half of the donation will create the Brown Hudner Navy Scholarship Foundation, named after naval aviators Jesse Brown and Tom Hudner, who both served as fighter pilots in the Korean War.
“Jesse Brown is the first African-American naval aviator in the United States Navy. He was paired with Tom Hudner, and they became a pair of the most celebrated men in the service of naval aviation,” said Van Opdorp.
“The scholarship itself is designed to honor their legacy, but also to help the children of sailors who are interested in the STEM field as well as the health services, pursue their educational objectives.”
Smith’s daughters recently produced “Devotion,” a film about the duo, and the recent donation is tied to that movie and a push to recover Brown’s remains from North Korea.
Applications for Marine and Brown Hudner Scholarships are now open and close March 1. Recipients can get up to a total of $40,000 in educational aid.
