The Education and Training Fund (E&T Fund) invests donations from AWWA members and others and uses the earnings to fund scholarships. In this way, every donation provides a perpetual benefit to the scholarship program.
When $10,000 or more is donated in someone’s name, a scholarship of at least 10% of the donated funds is awarded in that person’s name each year. Currently, there are nine named schlarships awarded each year: Alan Jones, Archie Rice, Cynthia Driscoll, Petty/Stiles, Doane Family, Wubbena Family, RH2 Engineering, Southern Oregon Subsection and the Northwest Washington Subsection.
Formed by the PNWS in 1985, the E&T Fund has grown to over $600,000. The PNWS Board’s goal is to continue to increase the fund to better keep pace with the rising cost of education.
The PNWS Scholarship Committee then combines yearly funding from the E&T Fund together with corporate donations and funding from the PNWS annual budget. It then awards six to 10 scholarships annually to students taking courses that will lead to or improve their careers in the drinking water industry. To date scholarships have been awarded totaling over $375,000.
In 2014, PNWS provided $24,000 in scholarship funds to ten students. The program is designed for the second year of community college work, the second and/or third year of undergraduate work, or graduate work. Get more information on scholarships.
PNWS is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization under US IRS statues and, as such, all donations to the E&T Fund are tax deductible to the extent of the law.