“This scholarship, honestly, it means a lot to me, not in just the aspect of lifting a financial burden, but also it keeps me motivated and reminds me of what my parents and so many other Americans choose to do,” said scholarship recipient Amber Bishop.

The program, created in 2001, recognizes the contributions of military families to the readiness of the fighting force and celebrates the commissaries’ role in enhancing the military’s quality of life. Fisher House Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps service members and their families, partners with the Defense Commissary Agency to administer the scholarship.
It was Fisher House Foundation’s efforts in recent years to modernize the entry process and bring it fully online which left it well prepared for a year complicated by a global pandemic, according to Marshall Banks, Fisher House Foundation’s director of community relations.

“We were very happy with the application process for the 2022-23 scholarship programs,” he said. “The quality of applications received this year was exceptional. We received a total of 4,171 applications from 224 commissaries.”

Fisher House Foundation is ranked a Four-Star Charity by Charity Navigator. No government funds are used to support the Scholarships for Military Children program. Commissary vendors, manufacturers, brokers, suppliers, and the general public donate money to fund the program.

Sponsors for the 2022-23 scholarship program are:
At the four-star level, donating $50,000 to $199,999: 522 Foundation, Inc.; Major General Harry Greene AUSA Aberdeen Chapter; Procter & Gamble Company; PwC Charitable Foundation; and the Synchrony Foundation.

At the two-star level, donating $10,000 to $24,999: Dollar Shave Club, a Unilever brand; Simon and Merrilee Engel; The Hershey Company; Elissa Koff; Stephanie Larson; Padres Foundation; William and Helen Sherman.

At the one-star level, donating $2,000 TO $9,999: Anonymous; Maj Gen Susan Y. Desjardins, USAF (Ret.) and Peter D. Lennon; Elite Brands; Estate of Edwin H. Erland; General Mills; Robert and Tara Indresano; In memory of Roy V. Kinion, Jr.; Lt Col Ronald Mattana, USAF (Ret.); CAPT Victor and Mrs. Carol Palmucci, USN (Ret.); Patricia Stenzel
Overseas Service Corp. and Webco Services Co. also supported the Scholarships for Military Children program.

Businesses, organizations, and individuals interested in sponsoring the 2023-24 scholarships can contact sthomas@fisherhouse.org.

To read the full wrap up of the 2022-23 scholarship program go to https://bit.ly/3b9r92d.
More info about Fisher House Foundation’s scholarship programs including the Scholarships for Military Children, Heroes’ Legacy Scholarship, and an interactive scholarship search engine, can be found at https://fisherhouse.org/programs/scholarship-programs/.