As a married father of three children, Adam Valeski knew attending a university “was going to have enormous financial burdens.” And that’s where VFW’s Sport Clips Help A Hero scholarship came into play.
Valeski, who served in the Minnesota National Guard from 2008-15 and deployed to Afghanistan from 2012-13, received a $5,000 Help A Hero scholarship, which offers veterans and active-duty military educational assistance in amounts up to $5,000.
Adam Valeski, a member of VFW Post 3676, is the recipient of a $5,000 Help A Hero scholarship from the VFW. The scholarship is sponsored by Sport Clips.
 |
The funds, according to Valeski, paid for about one-third of his next semester’s tuition at the University of Phoenix.
“When I applied for the scholarship, I was not expecting to get it at all,” Valeski said. “When I received the email confirming the reward I thought to myself , ‘Wow, people are on the other end reading our stories.’”
Valeski, a Life member of Post 3676 in Sault Sainte Marie, Mich., said he found out about the scholarship while attending a VFW training event.
“The state commander was hosting to help familiarize Post members with the VFW website. Sometime during my exploration of the site, I stumbled upon the scholarship,” Valeski said. “That night, I went home and started writing my essay for the competition.”
The Help A Hero scholarship is important for veterans because, according to Valeski, many are attending college after serving in the military or to “further their military career.”
“Most veterans have already established a family or have a good amount of time and money invested into their lives,” Valeski said. “Helping vets financially to attend a university opens so many doors for them that may have been disregarded before.”
That being the case, Valeski said he would like to thank those “who still support our veterans.”
“It seems our nation’s culture has a different view of our armed forces than it did five years ago,” Valeski said. “It’s good to know people are still supporting our troops. It is the support at home that makes our armed forces the most powerful fighting force in the world and keeps our boys coming home. Without that support of American citizens, we lose the critical will to fight.”
For more information about the Sport Clips Help A Hero scholarship, visit www.vfw.org/scholarship.
This article was written by Kari Williams, senior writer, VFW magazine.