Public Employee Press

Bookkeeper’s son wins union scholarship

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

Like most union families with children aspiring to higher education, Moonilal and Angela Singh are deeply concerned about the escalating cost of college. With young Sheldon completing his senior year in June at Mount St. Michael’s High School in the Bronx, Moonilal, an Associate Bookkeeper in Accountants, Statisticians and Actuaries Local 1407, set out to help his son find scholarship assistance.

“I saw an article in PEP about union scholarships, so I called Local President Maf Misbah Uddin for more information,” said Singh, who works at the Administration for Children’s Services.

Uddin, who is also the treasurer of DC 37, suggested that Sheldon apply for the Family Scholarships offered by DC 37’s national union. AFSCME awards $2,000-a-year scholarships to at least 13 high school seniors every year and renews the grants if the winner remains a full-time student.

To compete for the scholarship, Sheldon had to write an essay about the importance of the union for his family.

Sheldon, who runs track and field and enjoys soccer, wrote eloquently about joining his father in spirited union demonstrations at City Hall to protest job cuts. He said the fiery speeches of local leaders and AFSCME President Gerald W. McEntee impressed him, and he highlighted the importance of union lobbying efforts in winning benefits for working families.

The Singhs anxiously waited for news, and in March the call came: Sheldon won.

His mother, Angela, a member of Local 1199 SEIU, is quite proud of her son. “I really don’t have to worry much about him,” she says. “He enjoys school and has always been a good student.”

Sheldon is considering either Marymount Manhattan or St. Francis College in the fall and will study accounting and business, just like his father. “I’m very grateful that my father belongs to AFSCME and that I could help our family pay for college,” he said. “I will always support unions, just like AFSCME supported me.”

“This is a prime example of the meaning of our motto, ‘Bringing the union to the membership,’ ” said Uddin.

Applications available in July

To apply, the student must be a child or financially dependent grandchild of an active or retired AFSCME member. The student must be graduating high school in 2010, must have applied to an accredited college or university (and must subsequently be accepted in a full-time four-year degree program).

Applications and more information are available by calling 202-429-1250 or going to http://afscme.org and clicking Members Only, Education and Training, and Scholarships.

Deadline: Applications and support documentation must be postmarked no later than Dec. 31, 2009.