BY SAUDI M. ELLIS, GUEST WRITER TO THE TIMES
ORLANDO – What’s better than winning a local Orlando (FL) Chapter of Chums, Incorporated Memorial Scholarship… winning a Chums, Incorporated Founders’ National Scholarship! Dr. Phillips graduate Sharlee Shaw achieved just that when she was named the first-place recipient of the Founders’ National Scholarship of Chums, Incorporated at the Chums Annual Conclave in October of 2023.
Sharlee Shaw, now a freshman at Florida A&M University, received an Orlando Chapter of Chums Memorial Scholarship of $1250, along with Alexandria Adrien another Dr. Phillips HS student, and Logan Walker of Apopka HS. Sharlee’s application was forwarded for the national award process and she placed first receiving an additional $3300. This will help her greatly in her goal to become a Pediatrician. Students submitted for national consideration by the Orlando (FL) Chapter of Chums have been selected for national awards four times in six years.
Who are the Chums? Chums, Incorporated is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that provides opportunities for women to meet in friendship and fun, to encourage a spirit of helpfulness, and to use their many talents in service to the community. The organization promotes civic, cultural, educational, and social improvement. An ancillary focus of the organization is to enrich the lives of children by helping them to develop to their fullest intellectual, moral, emotional, physical, and social potential. The national theme is “listen to the children” …enrich their lives. The Chums, founded in 1946, and incorporated in 1952 have 36 chapters nationwide.
Applications for the 2024 Orlando Chapter of Chums, Incorporated Memorial Scholarship are now available from area high schools or by sending a request to: [email protected]. High achieving, college bound African American female high school seniors with demonstrated financial need are encouraged to apply. The deadline is March 15, 2024.
Save the date! On April 13, 2024, the Orlando Chapter of Chums, Incorporated will host its 20th Annual Spring Luncheon at First Baptist Orlando’s Faith Hall. Keynote speaker will be Dr. Candice Jones; Pediatrician, Medical Media Advocate, and Author of High Five Discipline: Positive Parenting for Happy, Healthy, Well-Behaved Kids. For more information about this event and the Orlando Chapter of Chums, Incorporated Scholarship, please email [email protected].
