Growing up in a single-parent household, Daniel Brand discovered early in life how crucial an education can be for families of lesser means.
As a longtime firefighter, he also knows how tough it is to find qualified candidates to fill the demand for emergency responder positions.
So he started the Brand Family Firefighter Scholarship for $1,000 to assist Moraine Valley Community College students attending the school’s Fire Academy and Emergency Medical Services Program.
“During my childhood and as a young adult myself, my brother Bill, and especially my mom, didn’t have the financial means to further our education past high school,” said Brand, who now handles OSHA compliance and logistics for the Crestwood Fire Department. “Events that occur have lasting effects on a child, so I want to take the opportunity to give a little extra to that person who wants to serve his or her community as a firefighter.
“Currently many fire departments are having trouble filling open positions, so I hope this helps get someone through the finish line and into a career in the fire service.”
Brand has a strong link to the profession through his family.
His cousin, the late Ed Brand, was a battalion chief for the Oak Lawn Fire Department. Another cousin, the late James Drozdz, was a firefighter in Crestwood and Palos Heights before becoming a state police officer and eventually states attorney for Hancock County. Brand’s brother-in-law is on the Oak Forest Fire Department and his father-in-law, Phil Knor, was a firefighter for more than 20 years.
Also, Brand and his mother both attended the college in Palos Hills, so the scholarship at MVCC was a perfect fit.
He is one of a handful of recent donors to have established scholarships to help Moraine Valley students get started in the trades. Each has their own personal story about how education and scholarships helped them or their loved ones get where they are today.
The Adam Bartuzi Trades Career Programs Scholarship established by the Zopf, McNamara and Bartuzi families offers $500 to a student in memory of Adam Bartuzi Sr. After he died, son Adam Bartuzi Jr. nearly dropped his college plans until his uncle Peter Bartuzzi signed up for classes at Moraine Valley too.
“When Peter and Adam Jr. saw how scholarships were changing their classmates’ lives, and theirs. Peter talked to his large family and asked if everyone could chip in to create a scholarship in honor of Adam Sr., who strongly believed in education and was always taking classes even as an adult,” explained Patti Mehallick, director of Alumni and Annual Programs at the MVCC Foundation. “Adam Sr. was a tradesman, so they focused on the scholarship funds helping students pursuing HVAC, automotive repair, welding and electrical.”
Mehallick, who is also an adjunct business instructor, said she benefited from a scholarship when she started college in Maryland or she might not be where she is today.
“We have so many students who have big dreams but not the funds, and our donors and our foundation supply the funds for tuition fees and books so they are able to attend classes,” she said. “Community college students are different — they’re also working, may have kids — so any support we can give them to keep them in school, it gives them the drive that someone cares about me and I can do this.”
The other recently established scholarships at Moraine Valley Community College are the L.A. Schraffenberger Health Sciences Endowed Scholarship for $1,000; the Patricia J. McNamara Scholarship for $1,000 for students in the Nursing Program who are 24 or older and returning to school after being away for five or more years; the Patrick “Irish” Collier Scholarship in memory of Pat Collier, a long-time EMS Program instructor; and the Sullivan Paramedic Scholarship for students in the paramedic program.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
Janice Neumann
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