WU FOUNDATION AWARDS FIRST SCHOLARSHIPS INQUIRER.net
February 03, 2009
ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Jan. 27, 2009 – The Western Union Foundation today announced the first award recipients of the Family Scholarship Pilot Program for migrant workers and their families. The pilot phase of the program was focused on awarding scholarships to families within the Guatemalan and Filipino diaspora in the Los Angeles, California, area and is now expanding to include the Mexican diaspora as well.
Filipina immigrant sisters, Carla Mae and Carmela Mae Ubalde, both received scholarships to help continue their college education at California State University in Northridge. Carla is studying to be a nurse, while Carmela is majoring in computer science. Both girls volunteer in their local community, in addition to attending school and working at various jobs to help pay tuition and other educational expenses. “We are so grateful to the Western Union Foundation for caring about young people. You’ve helped us make our family proud,” said Carla Mae and Carmela enthusiastically. “These scholarships will help make both of our lives a little easier and we truly appreciate your gift.”
“We are pleased to be able to award our first family scholarships to these hard-working, young women from the Filipino community,” said Luella Chavez D’Angelo, president, Western Union Foundation. “Education is a universal need and has the ability to create opportunity and improve lives. This family scholarship will help improve the lives of these two sisters, lessening their financial burden and providing them with the opportunity to achieve their educational goals.”
The Family Scholarship Program is a component of Western Union’s Our World, Our FamilySM signature program, a five year, $50 million commitment designed to provide communities with the skills, knowledge and resources essential to breaking the cycle of poverty. The program is framed around four areas: Our World Gives; Our World Learns; Our World Strives and Our World Speaks, with each area given equal attention towards helping families stay connected, overcome barriers and realize their dreams.
The Western Union Foundation Family Scholarship Program is independently managed by the Institute of International Education (IIE), an international non-profit educational exchange organization. Scholarship applicants can determine eligibility and initiate an online application through the Western Union Foundation website at foundation.westernunion.com.
