Two lucky Caribbean American youth will have the chance to win scholarships being offered by Laparkan Shipping, one of the biggest Caribbean shipping and money transfer companies in the world.
Laparkan officials made the announcement during a news conference at their office at 416-428 Stanley Ave. Brooklyn, on Aug. 28, 2014. This is the tenth year of the Caribbean American scholarship program. During the past nine years the company awarded 30 scholarships. Wesley Kirton, corporate manager of marketing and external relations, Sherry Mohammed, manager of the North West Region, Marcia Conyers, manager of the Stanley Avenue location, Dawn Plummer, marketing and business development manager and Shamin Ali, business development manager for the Queens location represented the company at the event.
Since April 24, 2004 Laparkan Trading Ltd./Money Transfer has been committed to awarding the Laparkan Caribbean American Scholarship, created to assist America’s promising young students of Caribbean descent with their educational needs. The goal of this program is to reward Caribbean/Caribbean American students who are actively involved in or participated in projects related to the improvement of Caribbean communities in the United States.
An advisory committee has been established to evaluate the selection process and to give guidance to the program. Two scholarships will be awarded to high school seniors/college freshmen who have been accepted or are currently enrolled in accredited colleges/universities within the United States for the Fall of 2014 semester.
To qualify for the scholarship, students must be a graduating Caribbean/Caribbean American high school senior with a cumulative high school GPA of 85 and above or a college freshman currently enrolled for the next semester with a college GPA of 3.0 and above. The candidate must have volunteered with a Caribbean/Caribbean-American organization, committee or project that serves the Caribbean community.
When asked whether being involved in a mas camp or steel band orchestra qualified, Kirton responded, “Yes, absolutely. That is the heart of Caribbean culture.” He continued, “The scholarship is a demonstration of Laparkan’s commitment to the education process among our Caribbean Diaspora youth.”
Speaking about the impact of the scholarship in the Caribbean community, Kirton said, “Over the 10 years we have seen the benefit and impact by witnessing over a dozen students graduate from college and go on to be successful in the working world. It is a pleasure to be able to offer these scholarships and help our young people who need the assistance.” Applications forms are available at all Laparkan locations and completed applications must be submitted no later than Dec. 15, 2014 for qualification. For information, call Barbara Sawh at (718) 441-0696.
