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Commissary awards scholarships to local students

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  • By Defense Commissary Agency
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Six local students are have $1,500 to put towards their education thanks to the Defense Commissary Agency's Scholarships for Military Children Program. 

Col. Rick LoCastro, 96th Air Base Wing vice commander, and Luana Harris, store director at Eglin' Commissary, presented the scholarships May 28. The winners are: Rhapsody D. Bogart from DeFuniak Springs, Patrick R. Fitzgerald from Shalimar, Lauren A. Foy , Jeremy T. Peppler , Samantha R. Reho all from Niceville and Ryan A. Urenda from Fort Walton Beach. 

In all, DeCA presented scholarships to 600 children of military families. 

"We're excited to report that the scholarship program continues to be a success in helping military families defray the costs of education," said Defense Commissary Agency acting director and chief executive officer Richard S. Page. "We're proud to be associated with a program that has awarded 4,132 scholarships totaling more than $6.4 million since its inception in 2001." 

Scholarship Managers, a professional scholarship firm, selects the winners based on academic merit, participation in extracurricular and volunteer activities, and the quality of their essays. Recipients are notified by letter. The full list of scholarship recipients and sponsoring business partners is posted online at http://www.militaryscholar.org.
The Scholarships for Military Children program is administered by Fisher House Foundation, a nonprofit organization responsible for building comfort homes near military medical centers. The foundation bears all costs of the program so that every dollar donated goes for scholarships. The general public has the opportunity to donate to the program through the military scholar Web site.