Men’s Scholarship Notice

Scholarship Chair Joseph Scheffey

At the May 3 monthly meeting of the Men’s Club of Collier County, Chairman of the Scholarship Committee Joe Scheffey provided an update to the members.

The objective of their program is to encourage students that have demonstrated academic excellence and a commitment to the community to get involved and understand politics and the political issues currently affecting our citizens under the Constitution.

To that end, scholarships are awarded to high school seniors entering college. As part of the application process, students must submit an essay expressing their point of view and any proposed solutions on a current or recently publicized political issue that affects the rights and responsibilities of the citizens under the Constitution.

Joe described some of the successes with the effort:

•  This year, 10 students applied, more than double the number from last year
• The amount of the award was increased from $1500/year to $2000/year. This will be retroactively applied to the students already receiving support in their sophomore, junior and senior years of college
• There were modestly more individual schools with applicants

Joseph Scheffey Makes a plea

There will be 4 awards this year. This will bring the total number of participating students to 11, with a total budget of $22,000. This compares to 4 participating students and a budget of $10,000 just two years ago. The Committee has refocused it efforts more toward individual students, while de-emphasizing support to other community organizations

These scholarships are in addition to the Club endowment at FGCU, which supports one or more students there.

The Scholarship Committee, including Chair Joe Scheffey, Russell Tuff, Mike Nadolski, Mike Lyster, Erick Carter, and Reg Buxton, recently completed interviews with 4 of the student applicants, with a fifth interview scheduled shortly. Formal awards will be made at the June 7 monthly Club meeting. Thanks to these Committee members for their help and participation!

Joe went on to describe some of the challenges facing the Committee:

• The Salute To Veterans (STV) Committee organizes and hosts the annual STV event in November, the primary fundraising effort which supports the scholarship program.
• Every year, the event, typically held at the Naples Hilton, becomes more expensive to host

The STV Committee desires to increase its outreach and support to local veterans’ groups, a noble and appropriate goal.

In order to attract interest from more of the public schools, and generate greater interest generally, the scholarship awards must be meaningful. The goal is to continually increase the annual award amount. Note that the original awards were $500/year per student

What’s Ahead Continuing Progress

With these successes and challenges in mind, the Club Board initiated an effort last year to create a non-profit foundation (so-called 501(c)(3) or similar organization). This could be used for scholarships, veterans outreach, and other worthy efforts supporting the Club’s goals. It would allow contributions from corporate and individual supporters to be tax deductible. For example, an individual making a $1000 contribution would only effectively be paying $630-880, depending on their tax bracket.

The mechanics of creating the Men’s Club of Collier County Foundation has been a long and tedious affair. There is now an opportunity push this effort to completion. It can be expedited by having potential contributors send a pledge letter in support of the Foundation. A caveat with the pledge is that it is only good if the Foundation is officially established in the near future. See a Sample Pledge Letter Here. Return letter via email to treasurer@mensclubfoundation.org, due by June 30.

The Issue

Many conservatives are frustrated with the takeover by the left of policy and operations of our previously trusted institutions. This control is evidenced in the number of contributions to non-profits by liberals. It’s reported that the left has more than 20,000 single-issue nonprofit organizations vs. about 1500 for conservatives. Each year, Democratic nonprofits raise 7 times more money than conservative nonprofits and have 7 times more unique doners¹.

As conservative individuals and small businesses upholding the Constitution, we often think, “What can I do to affect change?” Our conservative leaders exhort us to work at the local, grass roots level, as individuals, to make changes. Our scholarship program is an example where individual Collier County conservatives can make a difference!

The opportunity is now at hand. Please support the creation and funding of the Men’s Club of Collier County Foundation. Click Here to get a sample letter

Return letter via email to treasurer@mensclubfoundation.org, or mail to:

Men’s Club Foundation Men’s Club of Collier County. Inc.
2430 Vanderbilt Beach Rd Ste 108 PMB 397
Naples FL 34109

1 Viguerie, Richard A., “Democrats’ Doners and Donations Dog Conservatives”, Washington Times, April 23, 2024