Vantagepoint Memorial Scholarship Honors Fallen Police, Firefighters and Public Employees

WASHINGTON, July 19 /PRNewswire/ -- The Vantagepoint Public Employee Memorial Scholarship Fund this year approved $65,000 in post-secondary educational scholarships to the surviving children and spouses of fallen firefighters, police officers and other public employees. The 23 recipients will receive their awards when classes commence in the fall.

"On behalf of the Fund, ICMA-RC, our Boards of Directors and our generous donors, we appreciate the opportunity to pay tribute to the surviving children and spouses of public employees who lost their lives in service to their communities," said Joan McCallen, president of the Vantagepoint Public Employee Memorial Scholarship Fund and president and CEO of ICMA-RC. "We are honored to award scholarships this year to so many hard working and deserving students."

Established in 2001 by ICMA-RC and its Board of Directors, the Scholarship Fund honors the lives of the nation's police officers, firefighters and other city, county and state government employees who have died in the line of duty. Since its inception, the Fund has awarded over $750,000 in scholarships.

This year, award recipients hail from 13 states across the country and are pursuing diverse educational tracks from evolutionary biology to film studies. Others have chosen to follow in their parent's footsteps by pursuing educational paths in areas such as fire science and law.

Applicants are eligible for selection if they are the child or spouse of a local or state government employee who has died in the line of duty, and planning to study full-time at an accredited two- or four-year college, university or vocational-technical school. Applicants are also selected based on other factors including financial need, academic record, demonstrated leadership in school and community activities, honors, and work experience.

The Vantagepoint Public Employee Memorial Scholarship Fund is made possible through the generosity of contributing donors. For more information on how to contribute please visit www.vantagescholar.org.

About the Vantagepoint Public Employee Memorial Scholarship Fund

The Fund is a Section 501(c)(3) public charity founded by the ICMA-RC in 2001. Financial support for the scholarship is provided by ICMA-RC, individual sponsors, foundations, and organizations. Applications for 2011/12 scholarships will be accepted from Dec. 15 - March 15, 2011. Information can be found at www.vantagescholar.org.

About ICMA-RC

ICMA-RC is an independent nonprofit corporation focused on providing retirement plans and related services for more than 900,000 public employees in more than 8,000 retirement plans. Its mission is to help build retirement security for public employees by providing investment tools, financial education, and other retirement-related services. The corporation also works to ease the administrative responsibility of local governments that offer these benefits to their employees. For more information visit www.icmarc.org

SOURCE ICMA-RC