CLEVELAND, April 16 — BLET members are reminded of two important scholarship deadlines that are quickly approaching. Deadline for the BLET’s Southeastern Meeting Association (SMA) Geiger-Brendle scholarship is June 9, and deadline for Our Brothers Keeper Foundation’s (OBKF) scholarship is May 15.
SMA Geiger-Brendle Scholarship
The Southeastern Meeting Association (SMA) Scholarship Committee awards the Geiger-Brendle Scholarships each year to the children of active or retired BLET members whose divisions participate in the SMA.
Please check with your division secretary-treasurer to ensure that your division participates. In general, the SMA includes divisions located in states east of the Mississippi River, and south of the Ohio River and the Mason-Dixon Line. Also, Divisions must be current with their SMA dues in order for the applicant to be eligible.
SMA scholarship winners are selected and announced at the SMA’s annual business meeting held during the convention. This year’s SMA will be June 15-19 in Montgomery, Ala., and the application deadline is June 9. Applicants must provide proof of grade point average as part of the application process, and must also submit a 100 word essay on the subject, “Why I would like to win a scholarship.” No faxed or hand delivered applications will be accepted.
Completed applications and proof of grade point average should be mailed to: Chuck F. Warder, Secretary-Treasurer of the SMA: 1511 Greenbrier Drive, Huntington, W.Va., 25704-9416.
A copy of the SMA Geiger-Brendle Scholarship application form is available here:
https://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/smascholarship.pdf
OBKF Scholarships
Our Brothers Keeper Foundation (OBKF) is planning to award four $1,000 scholarships in 2008 to family members of seriously injured railroad workers. One winner will be awarded a scholarship from each of the four geographic regions represented by the BLET regional meetings — Eastern Union Meeting Association (EUMA), Southeastern Meeting Association (SMA), International Western Convention (IWC), and Southwestern Convention Meeting (SWCM). The SMA is the first regional meeting of 2008, and the deadline for application is May 15.
OBKF is a 501(c)(3) non profit organization that provides consultation, referral and financial assistance to aid employees of the railroad industry and their families in times of hardship arising from accidents and injuries that occur within the scope of the worker’s railroad employment.
In terms of basic eligibility requirements, applicants must:
Additional information is provided on the application form, which is available on the BLET web site.
The deadline for each scholarship is 30 days prior to the start of the BLET regional meetings:
Since the majority of the support for OBKF’s outreach efforts currently comes from engineers and train service employees, family members of these crafts will be given preference. All scholarship applications will be carefully reviewed. Scholarship awards are to be based on need and fulfillment of applicant requirements.
A copy of the application form is available here:
https://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/OBKFscholarship2008.pdf
In 2006, the last year for which complete statistics are available, Class I railroads reported almost 300 Category I & II casualties. These are on-the-job deaths or injuries so serious that they frequently result in permanent disabilities to railroad workers. These workers and their families are often left without the resources needed to cover everyday living expenses, much less provide tuition for family members who need, or would like, to further their education. OBKF is hoping to assist these families realize the goal of achieving higher education.