THE TIDAL WAVE SCHOLARSHIP FUND Paying it forward...

Tidal Waves Scholarship Fund

This fund has been created to provide needy gay and lesbian degree-seeking students with partial tuition fees for their collegiate-level classes.  The Tidal Wave Scholarship Fund will be overseen by Gecko CPA Firm in Winter Park, Florida and candidate screening will be administered by a committee comprised of Tidal Wave representatives as well as members of The Center, Orlando’s GLBT Community Center.

The Tidal Wave Party raised nearly $4000 in its first year and distributed three $1,000 scholarships for the 2011 fall semester.  Once again, Tidal Wave Party Weekend is pledging two dollars for every ticket sold for this year's party, and will also make additional contributions via proceeds from fundraising efforts during our vendor fair, host hotel events, and through fundraising efforts from many other parties, events and venue appearances we make throughout the year. 

A minimum of 75% of our annual contribution will be distributed to our applicants while the remaining 25% will be held in an interest earning account for continued growth of the fund.

We had a fantastic response in 2011!  There were a dozen applicants from all over the country and each and every candidate was deserving.  We were EXTREMELY PROUD to award three students a $1,000 scholarship for their 2011-2012 academic year. 

The chosen students were:

Dallas Taylor of Birmingham, Alabama, who attends Birmingham-Southern College, studying Musical Theatre and Education;

Jamie Frishman of Melbourne, Florida, who will be attending the University of Central Florida, for General Studies;

Leslie Nguyen-Okwu of Austin, Texas, who will be attending Stanford University to study International Relations and Political Science.

We can't say enough how amazing and deserving all these students are!  It was not an easy process to narrow down our candidates.  Our winners are all individuals who not only took the initiative to speak out, but took the opportunity to create organizations and events for their respective high schools to call awareness to GLBT issues.

SCHOLARSHIP REQUIREMENTS:

The Tidal Wave Scholarship Fund (TWSF) proudly provides financial scholarships to openly gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) students, as well as to students of GLBT parents, who can demonstrate financial need, as well as a background of positive contribution to their local GLBT community.  These $1000 scholarships are one-time distributions but re-application is allowed for up to four years of undergraduate study.  Scholarships are open for consideration to graduating high school seniors and to returning collegiate students up to age 23.  Award selection is based on academic credentials, with at least a 3.5 GPA on a 4.0 scale; an essay on how they feel their out-and-proud lifestyle will produce a positive effect in their future careers and endeavors; and two letters of recommendation.  Final candidates may be required to participate in a short interview.

The TWSF application process will be administered by The Center, Orlando, FL’s GLBT Community Center and the financial auditing administered by Gecko CPA Firm in Winter Park, FL.

The application deadline is June 15 for the following fall semester.  Applicants will be notified no later than the following August 1.  Applications must be mailed to:

Tidal Wave Scholarship Fund
c/o The Center
946 N. Mills Ave.
Orlando, FL  32803.

Click Here to download the complete application form (or right click and choose save file/link as to download the form to your computer).

For more information, write to Tidal Wave Scholarship Fund, c/o The Center, 946 N. Mills Ave., Orlando, FL  32803 or email to scholarshipfund@tidalwaveparty.com.