Mississippi Organ Recovery Agency (MORA) has announced that the agency’s 2018 scholarship application process is now open. For the fourth straight year, MORA will present $6,500 in scholarships in May to high school seniors who understand the need for organ, eye and tissue donation in Mississippi and across the country.
Eleven $500 scholarships will be awarded in the spring, as well as a $1,000 Gift of Life scholarship, that will go to the top student applicant.
After a record number of applicants, 265, from a record number of high schools, 94, in 2017, MORA’s CEO Kevin Stump said he expects the list of applicants to be even higher this year.
“We have seen interest in donation rise among young people through the recent years,” said Stump, who is in his 24th year as the agency’s CEO. “We feel this is because either a young person has been touched by donation through a personal experience or that they are becoming educated about the need of the lifesaving gifts of donation.”
Seniors applying for the MORA scholarships must meet certain criteria. First, they must be a graduating senior from an accredited Mississippi high school. Those seniors must also must have been accepted by a community college or university in Mississippi, or have intentions of 2018 fall enrollment. They must also have a grade point average of 2.5 or above, include two letters of recommendation one from a teacher and one from an adult of the student’s choice and include an essay of 300 to a maximum of 750 words about their connection to donation, why they are registered donors or the importance of encouraging others to be donors.
The scholarship application deadline is February 14th.
