Richmond Police Activities League needs additional funding for youth scholarship grant programs

A straight-A student coping with her disabled mom plus a kid fitting in with support his family while seeking to become an immigration attorney will be the many high-quality applicants on this year’s Richmond Youth Scholars Program, which funds academic scholarships which is dire requirement of additional donations.

This month, Richmond police Chief Chris Magnus penned a community letter seeking partners to buy the Richmond Police Activities League (RPAL)’s annual scholarship program for youth.

This year, students with incredible potential will probably be rejected because of a shortage of program funds to afford transportation to colleges, textbooks, and tuition assistance.

“Last week, we spent the morning sorting through 65 applications, ones the collaborative partners will more than likely just be in a position to fund 10-12,” said Duane Chapman in the Richmond Police Department’s Youth Services Division.

For eight years, the RPAL program has partnered with groups, organizations and businesses — including Chevron, Mechanics Bank, the George Miller Youth Fund and West Contra Costa Public Education Fund — to advance scholarships for deserving, and financially struggling, youth.

“We will be turning away some amazing students mainly because of the amount of revenue provided,” Chapman said. “Your gift can certainly make a significant difference to the students. Any amount can be accepted, however, the smallest amount for full scholarships we award are between $250 -$500.”

The listing of high-quality applicants add a young woman with a lot of challenges who would like to become a doctor and has a 4.1 GPA while volunteering from the city. Another young woman’s family ridicules her for wanting a schooling, but went ahead and decided upon advanced placement courses as well as being majoring in biology.

Yet another guy volunteers with RPAL and wants to certainly be a cop.

Last year, a lot more than 100 students sent applications for the scholarships, but some were turned away as a result of scarce resources, Magnus said.

“This can be another challenging year,” he added. “A small(tax deductible) gift will help us provide more assist with young people who need it.”

RPAL conducts a competitive, standardized application process in order to guarantee essentially the most deserving Richmond young scholars are selected, Magnus said.

On April 30, the choices process will culminate with an award ceremony at LaVonya Dejean Middle School.

Anyone enthusiastic about supporting the Richmond Young Scholars Program should contact Chapman at (510) 620-6500, extension 4939, as well as leaving a communication.

Checks are payable into the Richmond PAL Young Scholars Program.