The New Melle Fire Rescue firefighters have a private account, the Firefighters Fund, which is funded from time to time with donations from the public or from small fundraisers of their own.  This account is in no way funded from any tax dollars.

The New Melle Fire Rescue volunteer and paid firefighters decided for the tenth year in a row that they wished to offer a scholarship opportunity from their Firefighters Fund, which could be applied for by any resident within the geographic district covered by NMFPD.  The opportunity was open to anyone, regardless of age, who was applying for any higher education program.  While this scholarship could be applied to a full-time college education program, it could just as well be applied to a technical school curriculum or an EMT course, etc.

In addition, the full-time paid firefighters of New Melle FPD decided to chip in and offer an additional donation from their own separate fund, again a private account that is in no way funded from tax dollars.  They were motivated to do this based on the significant public response to the program in previous years, and their additional donation enabled the department to match last year’s scholarship total of $1,000.  This year, the $1,000 will again be offered as two (2) $500 scholarships, benefiting two (2) recipients.

A firefighter-based committee recently reviewed the eligible applications received.  The review process this year was a significant challenge, as always.  The applicants had outstanding records of academic achievement, along with profiles of numerous extracurricular and volunteer activities.  Many accomplished all that while working part time as well.  But after deliberation, the committee determined that the recipients of the two $500 scholarships offered this year are Heather Mallinckrodt of Femme Osage Creek Road in Augusta, and Shannan (Miller) Reel of Highway D in Defiance.

Heather Mallinckrodt is a freshman currently enrolled at Maryville University in St. Louis, majoring in Business Administration.  She graduated from St. Francis Borgia High School with an amazing 3.97 accumulative GPA for four years.  During all that studying, Heather found a way to concurrently work on her family’s farm, volunteer as a tutor at her school and as a teacher at her church, and be active in organizations such as 4-H and SADD/TREND (Students Against Destructive Decisions/Turning Resources and Energy in New Directions).  She was also a member of National Honor Society and Alpha Lambda Delta, and is the recipient of numerous academic honors and special recognitions.  She continues her active involvement in organizations during college.

Shannan (Miller) Reel graduated from Francis Howell High School, and is currently enrolled at Lindenwood University.  She plans to graduate in the spring of 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Finance degree.  She has worked for three years at Peoples Savings Bank, starting in New Melle, then moved to the new Winghaven branch; she works a 40 hour week at the bank, and somehow manages to carry a 19-hour college load.  Shannon has posted many accomplishments in our community, including nine years of 4-H (with officer positions and champion awards), many community and charity volunteer roles, and active involvement in high school organizations (DECA, FBLA).  She was also the 2010 New Melle Festival Queen.  Even with her heavy work and college load, she still manages to volunteer as a Clover Kids leader in 4-H.

We have some talented, hard-working people in our community, and Heather Mallinckrodt and Shannan Reel are surely two of them.  The New Melle Fire Rescue firefighters congratulate Heather and Shannan on their commendable successes to date, and wish them all the best in future collegiate work.  They also wish to thank all of the other scholarship applicants for their submissions, and wish them the best in their future endeavors as well.