1996 AFSCME Family Scholars

In the union tradition of improving the lives of America’s youth, the International has selected 10 children of AFSCME members to receive the 1996 Family Scholarship Award. Each receives a $2,000 scholarship which can be renewed up to four years for full-time course work toward a degree at an accredited college or university.

Deadline for the Family Scholarship Program is Dec. 31, 1997. Interested members should request application forms now by contacting AFSCME’s Education Department, 1625 L St., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-5687 or (202) 429-1250.

Here are this year’s winners and excerpts from their essays on "What AFSCME Has Meant to My Family:"

• Raymond Franklin, son of Raymond Franklin, NY CSEA/AFSCME Local 1000: "The union has touched my life in many aspects — providing my father with the means to guarantee a stable home, financial security and secure upbringing for my brothers and myself, in a world that is sometimes very insecure."
• Erica Gamble, daughter of Sylvia Gamble, MI Local 1023 (Council 25): "My exposure to AFSCME has been so intense that I feel as though I am a member already. I have picketed, marched in the Labor Day Parade, attended meetings and worked the telephone banks during the Get Out the Vote campaign. I have been embraced by and drawn into the AFSCME fold."
• Nathan Graumenz, son of David Graumenz, IL Local 993 (Council 31): "My family and I are cognizant and appreciative of another side of AFSCME that goes unheralded. AFSCME has compassion. ... it has interwoven itself into countless communities, large and small,across America as a genuine, good neighbor."
• Irene Ledee, daughter of Edy Ledee, NY Local 372 (Council 37): "AFSCME has given us [our family] the motivation to fight for our rights and beliefs as American citizens and to fight for those who cannot do for themselves. We fight not because we have to ... but because we want to."
• Amanda Nobel, daughter of Barry Nobel, OR Local 2831 (Council 75): "Union membership in AFSCME has enabled my family to be secure, my education to be stable, my health to remain good, my mom to start a business, my family to buy a home, and most importantly, it has allowed us to spend quality time together."
• Natalia Rudiak, daughter of John Rudiak, PA Local 2459 (Council 84): "AFSCME is involved in so much of my life. The workers represented by AFSCME are making my life easier so I don’t have to worry about the many things that affect the qualify of my life. ... These workers are our family, friends, and our neighbors."
• John Thomas, son of Nancy Thomas, CT Local 704 (Council 4): "Without unions, older workers would have no pensions; laid-off employees would not get job training; there would be no hope of salary increases, however modest, or of medical benefits; and women would make even less in comparison to male workers than they do now."
• Lindsey Tuominen, daughter of Kathryn Tuominen, MN Local 66 (Council 96): "AFSCME has helped stabilize my parents as a part of the middle class. Not only does the union ensure their lives will not be, without reason, thrown into poverty, but AFSCME also provides my brother and me with hope for the future."
• Julie Vasuthasawat, daughter of Daisy Vasuthasawat, CA Local 3090 (Council 36): "AFSCME provides an increase to the cost of living for my mother which helps with money for my brothers’ and my college education. ... I see this union as an endless rainbow where it doesn’t hurt us, but lets us know which way things are heading and where to go next from there."
• Manuel Williams, son of Janet Williams, TX Local 1550 (Council 42): "Having a parent as a member of the prestigious AFSCME has provided an immense and valuable influence in my ability to realize the power of unity in collective thinking and working toward a common and unifying goal."