In July, ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH attended the Sussex Hamfest where the Morris Radio Club (New Jersey) donated more than $31,000 to the ARRL Foundation. This money is earmarked for an annual Morris Radio Club Scholarship to go to a deserving area high school senior who is an Amateur Radio operator. Ron Levy, K2CO, former W2 QSL Manager, long time New Jersey DX Association (NJDXA) officer and MRC trustee, led the club contingent in presenting the check. Also on hand at the ceremony were ARRL Hudson Division Director Frank Fallon, N2FF, and Vice Director Joyce Birmingham, KA2ANF.
How did a radio club get $31,000? The answer: Eat at a local Chinese restaurant and talk about ham radio.
One Saturday night in February 1986, on a break from the ARRL International DX Contest, Ron and his wife Joyce met a group of hams and their wives in a local Chinese restaurant. One of the gentlemen with whom they were having dinner was a local judge and had been retained to represent and be the executor of an estate that involved a will giving an amount of money to a ham radio club.
The judge did not know any ham radio clubs, but Ron, Joyce and the other hungry hams did -- the Morris Radio Club. Two years later, after receiving tax-exempt status for the trust the group had formed, the estate presented them with $21,000. For a number of years the Morris Radio Club Trust gave $1000 scholarships to deserving high school hams for college expenses. In recent years, it became more difficult to advertise the scholarship and distribute the money to local high school students, so in 2006 Ron approached Fallon and Hobart about turning over the money to ARRL for a scholarship.
If you or your club is interested in doing something of a similar nature, contact Mary Hobart, K1MMH, at the ARRL Development Office.
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