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Several members of the Boston College community are lending their support – and their skills – to a Massachusetts organization that provides higher education opportunities for the children of military service members from the Bay State who have lost their lives in Iraq or Afghanistan.
Thomas Jennings ’95 is a trustee of Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund, a Boston-based group founded in 2004 to provide education-focused assistance grants for the sons and daughters of the state’s fallen heroes.
There are currently 71 children of deceased military members eligible for the financial assistance – several of them approaching college age.
Jennings has enlisted the assistance of the University’s Director of Undergraduate Admission, John L. Mahoney Jr., to provide knowledge and perspective for the children and their families.
“Tom and I have been talking about this for more than a year now,” says Mahoney, “and he has mentioned that the fund is growing and the children are closer to the age when they are beginning to look at college.
“Since our initial conversation, I have been struck by what a wonderful project this is,” says Mahoney. “My response was ‘Count me in.’”
Mahoney has offered to meet with families to talk about the college admission process in general, and how students should prepare for college – especially selective schools – as well as financial aid information that could be helpful in addition to any type of MSLF grant that is available.
Mahoney has also contacted his professional counterparts at Harvard University, Boston University, Tufts University and the University of Massachusetts, and received equally enthusiastic promises of educational guidance and consideration for the children of deceased military members.
“These children will be coming though the admissions pipeline in the next few years to come,” says Mahoney. “This group has laid the foundation for them. Even if we don’t get some of those kids to come to BC, there is definitely a role we can play for them.”
Jennings, who graduated from BC with degrees in economics and theology, said in an e-mail that although he never served in the military himself, he has “a deep appreciation for the freedom that we enjoy as Americans.”
The Legacy Fund organization held a leadership fundraising breakfast at Boston’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel this past Wednesday with a goal of adding $1 million to the program’s coffers. University Trustee John Fish was a co-chair of the event.
Click here for more information on the Massachusetts Soldiers Legacy Fund.