Scholarship fund looking toward future

Thanks to grant, organization continues mission of helping local students attend college

STAMFORD — Like most nonprofits, Stamford Dollars for Scholars has endured a difficult year. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the group dedicated to curbing college costs for local students was unable to fundraise for most of 2020.

Now, after receiving a grant that honors the organization’s roots as a community fund, Stamford Dollars for Scholars can look to the future and help more young people continue their education.

Stamford Dollars for Scholars has received $10,000 from its parent organization, Scholarship America, through the inaugural Dr. Irving Fradkin Legacy

Award. Fradkin founded Dollars for Scholars in 1958, empowered by the idea of collective action. If every person gave just a dollar to a scholarship fund, Fradkin said, every student in the community could attend college.

Fradkin’s legacy arrived in Stamford in 2011, when Tony D’Amelio founded the local chapter of Dollars for Scholars. Since then, Stamford Dollars for Scholars has awarded $775,000 across 234 scholarships to local students to attend college.

D’Amelio, a local entrepreneur who benefited from scholarships when he attended college, wanted to give back to the community. He recognized the need for providing local students with the opportunity to pursue college and vocational training after high school.

“We are an all-volunteer organization. All of our board members and volunteers support our operation on their own time,” said Bjorn “BJ” Bumactao,

Stamford Dollars for Scholars president. “Without their dedication, these 200-plus students would not have been able to receive the scholarships provided.”

Bumactao said he expects the need for scholarships to increase in the coming year because of the economic impact of the ongoing pandemic. With so many residents out of work or furloughed, he said it is likely that more residents will turn to community groups such as Dollars for Scholars to partially avoid the burden of student debt when heading for higher education.

Applications for Stamford Dollars for Scholars awards open in early February. The organization accepts submission until late March. Awards are open to all students in the Stamford community, regardless of what school they attend.

Throughout the entire scholarship review process, all applicants remain anonymous and final decisions are made with the help of volunteers.

In 2020, Stamford Dollars for Scholars awarded

28 scholarships to local students, collectively worth $78,000.

“We're now working to try to build up for next year,” said Gary Freeman, a

volunteer and former president of Stamford Dollars for Scholars. “We want to be able to give out scholarships in 2021 for students who are graduating, so we're doing

the best we can do.”

For more information on Stamford Dollars for Scholars, visit stamford. dollarsforscholars.org/. The nonprofit volunteer organi

zation provides local graduating seniors and returning college students with financial and academic assistance to help them pursue college.

Hearst Connecticut Media file photo In June 2014, Asia Currie, center, is awarded a Stamford Dollars for Scholars scholarship by then-co-presidents Jim McClafferty, left, and Tony D'Amelio during its third annual scholarships awards ceremony at UConn Stamford.