Posters and application packages for this year’s UFCW Canada National Council Beggs-Dowling-Mathieu (BDM) scholarships program have recently been sent to local unions, promoting the $18,000 that is available to members and their families each year for eligible post-secondary education.
 

“2009 was a very successful year for this program, which is one of the most popular member benefits our union offers,” says UFCW Canada National President Wayne Hanley. “Applications increased by more than 400% last year, and we are looking forward to the participation of even more students this year.”

The UFCW Canada National Council offers 18 annual scholarships of $1,000 each to UFCW Canada members and their children. The BDM scholarships – named for three builders of our union, William Beggs, Fred Dowling, and Roméo Mathieu – are chosen by random draw within each of four regions. The sole qualifications for entry are that the applicant must be enrolled at during the 2009-2010 school year in an eligible post-secondary program, and must not have won the prize previously.

“The deadline for entry is not until Sept. 30, but we wanted to be sure to give all UFCW Canada local unions ample time to get word out to their memberships,” National President Hanley says. “The summer months in particular can be a difficult time to reach student members, either because they are taking summer holidays, or, more likely, are hard at work trying to save money for the coming school year.”

Additional copies of the poster and application packages are available on request from the National Office, and can be downloaded from www.ufcw.ca/scholarships. UFCW Canada local unions also have the option of adding a digital scholarship button to their websites that will allow members to link directly to the information page and online application form. Contact Dorothy Gossi in the National Office for printed materials, or Michael Forman for the website script.

DIRECTIONS • Vol. X No. 11 • March 22, 2010