The John Weston Frederick Griffiths Scholarship Fund is a tax-deductible contribution.

 

100 percent of the money donated to the Fund is invested in a trust and used only for scholarships.

 

Until now we have never actively raised funds for the scholarship. We received many generous donations from family and friends in his memory after Weston passed, and over the years to mark his birthday and the anniversary of his death. This money was placed in a trust and raised enough interest each year to provide a scholarship.

 

We are now actively fundraising for two reasons. Firstly, the stockmarket has drawn down our trust's balance and if we don't get the fund back to a stable level, there will be no funds to support the scholarship in a few years. 

 

Secondly, we would eventually like to provide a continuing scholarship that would support a student throughout their secondary education (instead of a one-time scholarship) while continuing to offer new scholarships to students each year. This financial commitment will obviously require a great deal more funding.

 

Since our ultimate goal is to keep the scholarship and Weston's memory alive, we would like to build a stable fund to ensure the scholarship continue for many years.

 

If you would like to contribute, select the Donate button below to use Paypal or contact: suzihoffer@westonscholarship.com 

 

 

 

FUNDRAISING IDEAS

If you are interested in raising money for the scholarship, we welcome your ideas.

 

If you are looking for ideas:

 

If you are involved in a sport or activity, people could sponsor you. Eg. For every goal you score during the season, your sponsors pay you $10 for Weston's Scholarship.

 

If you are an artist, we are currently planning an art sale and would welcome donated pieces. If the piece sells, the proceeds will go to the scholarship fund.

 

Business Sponsorship

We are planning a few creative fundraisers in the near future (more information to be posted soon). We are looking for businesses interested in sponsoring and/or providing items for auction. Please contact us if you are interested. suzihoffer@westonscholarship.com 

 

Write a letter or e-mail to friends and family explaining why this scholarship is important to you. Eg. friendship with Weston; friendship with someone in Weston's family; and/or personal, family or friend experience with a learning disability. Then include information about learning disabilities and ask them to donate. Following are a few sentences you could include in your letter. If you would like help writing it or editing it, please contact us, we are happy to help.

The John Weston Frederick Griffiths Scholarship Fund is a tax-deductible contribution. 100 percent of the money donated to the Fund is invested in a trust and used only for scholarships.

 

According to the US Department of Education, 2.8 million children in US public schools (or 5 percent of the public school population) have learning disabilities and receive special education.

Per the National Dropout Prevention Center 38.7 percent of students with a learning disability age 14 and older dropped out of high school in 2000-2001.

The National Longitudinal Transition Study states that only 14 percent of students with learning disabilities (compared to 53 percent of students in the general population) have attended a postsecondary school program within two years of leaving high

school.

 

A 2002 study by Ohio Board of Regents showed that people with a college degree on average earn 80 percent more in their lifetime than those with only a high school diploma.  

 

Per the National Center for Learning Disabilities’ (NCLD) Web site: “A learning disability (LD) is a neurological disorder that affects the brain's ability to receive, process, store and respond to information. The term learning disability is used to describe the seeming unexplained difficulty a person of at least average intelligence has in acquiring basic academic skills. These skills are essential for success at school and work, and for coping with life in general. LD is not a single disorder. It is a term that refers to a group of disorders.”

 

Thank you for your interest.