Basil L. King Scholarship Foundation Opens Applications for 2020–2021 School Year

February 6, 2020 Suzanne Seldes

Past Recipient, Now Foundation Board Member, Calls Award ‘Life Changing’

The Basil L. King Scholarship Foundation is inviting St. Lucie County residents who are interested in pursuing careers in the Health Sciences to apply for scholarships for the 2020-2021 academic year. Students must already be accepted into programs in medical or allied health professions at two- or four-year institutions and have a cumulative GPA of 3.00 or higher on their most recent academic transcript. The application deadline is Monday, June 8, 2020.

Cindy Sheelar, Clinical Manager of the In-Patient Unit at Lawnwood Regional Medical Center, started her career in nursing with the help of the Basil L. King Foundation. “The scholarship came at a time when I really needed it,” shares Sheelar. “It let me focus on my studies, rather than how I was going to pay for nursing school. At the time, I was a young mother of two small children; so it really did help.”

With financial assistance from the Basil L. King Scholarship Foundation, Sheelar earned her Associate Degree in Nursing from Indian River State College (IRSC) in 2004. Today, she serves as a Basil L. King Scholarship Foundation Board Member, and is enrolled in the IRSC Bachelor of Applied Science in Organizational Management program to prepare her for future leadership opportunities at the hospital. Sheelar sees her service as a nurse and as a board member as “paying it forward” to the community that rallied around her.

“Now that I am on the board for the Foundation, I get to see how important it is for the education to be provided to others—to see what a difference it makes in their lives,” says Sheelar. She encourages everyone who is interested in a career in healthcare to apply.

The Basil L. King Scholarship Foundation application is available online at http://www.blksf.org. Complete applications must be received by Monday, June 8, 2020.

For more information about the scholarship program, contact Latrice Thomas at lthomas@irsc.edu or 772-462-7246.