Union Plus Awards IBEW Scholarships

Seven IBEW Members, Children and Spouses Receive Awards

More than 100 union members out of 6,800 applicants were selected to receive Union Plus awards for 2004. Criteria for winners included academic achievement, character and social commitment.

IBEW member Robert Hughs was chosen by Union Plus to receive a $1,000 scholarship to pursue business and labor studies at Missouri Western State College in his home town of St. Joseph.

Hughs is a journeyman inside wireman in Local 545 in St. Joseph and a past vice president of the Northwest Missouri Central Labor Council.

Andrew Becker-Kellis, son of Gary Kellis, member of Local 280, Salem, Oregon, has also received a $1,000 award. He is attending George Washington University in Washington, D.C., as a freshman majoring in political science. A young person with a strong social conscience derived in part from his fathers commitment to the union movement, Becker-Kellis intends to follow a career in politics.

Eagle Scout Jared Hoy of Fort Wayne, Indiana, is the recipient of a $1,000 grant. Hoy, son of Local 305 member Geary Hoy, enters St. Josephs College in Rensselaer, Indiana, this fall as a business major. Hoy said he values the importance of unions through his fathers 27-year membership in the IBEW.

Union Plus presented Seward, Illinois, resident David Merchant, son of Local 21 member Karleen Merchant, with a $1,000 scholarship. A freshman at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska, he plans to play for the Creighton baseball team.

Joliet Junior College freshman Charles Pandolfi earned a $1,000 scholarship. His father, Philip Pandolfi is a member of Local 176, Joliet, Illinois. Studying fire science in school, he is also a member of a local volunteer firefighters group and a licensed emergency medical technician who has dreamed of becoming a union firefighter with the city of Chicago since he was three.

Pamela Toman, daughter of Local 134 member Timothy Toman, of Westmont, Illinois, enters Brown University in Rhode Island this fall with the help of a $1,000 Union Plus scholarship award. The straight-A student who graduated at the top of her class excelled not only in academics, but in service activities too.

Janice Gilliam, wife of Walnut Creek, California Local 1245 member Matt Gilliam, received a $500 scholarship for her studies at Shasta College. The mother of three receives her associates degree in education, childhood studies and early education this fall and is a teachers aide for special education children.

Union Plus offers an education services program that includes access to scholarships, education loans and planning advice for college. Visit www.unionplus.org/education.