Arizona’s schools create fund for families of lost firefighters
Jul 8, 2013, 3:41 PM | Updated: 3:42 pm
PHOENIX – Educational organizations around the state have begun a long-term effort to help meet the educational needs of the children of the 19 firefighters who lost their lives in the Yarnell Hill Fire tragedy.
The Prescott Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Education Fund hopes to raise more than $5 million in order to provide more than 13 children with the necessary funds to help them meet all education-related expenses that they might have during their school years.
Financial assistance could include early childhood education like preschool, as well as K-12 needs such as school uniforms and supplies, fees for extracurricular activities, college admissions testing and funds for college textbooks and tuition or vocational training programs. The assistance would be provided until the youngest of the children turns 22-years-old.
Groups such as the Arizona School Boards Assocation, the Arizona Assocation of School Business officials, the Arizona Education Assocation and the Yavapai College Foundation, among others, are all pledging their support of the fund.
The fund has been created with the help of Wells Fargo and the public is invited to make tax-deductible donations at any branch using account number 8008516158. Checks to the Prescott Granite Mountain Hotshots Memorial Fund may also be sent to the Arizona School Boards Assocation.
