Abbegail Nack, Emily Tipple, Laila Mooring-Frye, Jessica Sperl, Kaitlyn Prack

 

The national Dollars for Scholars organization, first called Citizen's Scholarship Foundation of America, was started in Fall River, MA. In 1958, a soft-spoken optometrist, Dr. Irving Fradkin, lost his bid for election onto the School Committee (Board of Education). He had campaigned on the pledge of helping local students further their education through a scholarship program. He did not give up that goal after his loss, but rather gathered neighbors and leaders in his community to help him continue his mission. The group of volunteers went door to door asking the community to invest in the future of their young people by donating a dollar for a scholar, thus Dollars for Scholars was born. 

To this day, at 95, Dr. Fradkin spends time every day encouraging other Dollars for Scholars volunteers, community leaders and national leaders to invest in the future of our young people. We are inspired by his many past and present examples of dedication to the mission such as: collect calls to the White House, tens of thousands of letters for support (Eleanor Roosevelt, former First Lady, was the first dollar received to become a member of the CSFA!) and his sharing of his new dreams for a brighter and better country through educating our youth.

Over the 54 years, CSFA, now named Scholarship America, has metamorphosed and in doing so, has seen a tremendous growth in grass roots "chapters" all over the country, as well as corporate scholarship programs and other programs beyond Dr. Fradkin's dreams. Dollars for Scholars chapters are in every state in the USA, with more communities forming chapters as this is being read. (remarks from Chapter President's Welcoming Remarks: 2012)