UMD Raising Funds To Give Veterans Scholarships

DULUTH- UMD stores are offering students a cool way to support veterans.
They kicked off their Heroes Fund dogtag sale to help raise money for a veterans' scholarship.
Committee member Andrew Kimball said, "this was started by two anonymous donors, said hey what can we do for veterans and myself being a veteran, they had asked me to join this committee and we thought we would start this scholarship and what a way to give back."
They are hoping to raise twenty five thousand dollars for the scholarship fund, and will give out a $500 scholarship yearly.
The tags are just $5 and can be purchases at any store on the campus.
Purchasing a tag doesn't just support vets.
"You receive a dog tag that says UMD Heroes fund with a sequential number and on April 24th, at 4:30 pm at Clyde's Iron works where that number will be eligible for a drawing for prizes."
Veterans say they think the tags will greatly support their community.
Army vet, Gregory Sminesvik said, "there's a lot of guy's, that are just you know scraping by and doing what they can to get by. A lot of them like me have families so every little bit helps.
Active, Air National Guard member, Courtney Stone said, "I think all the support that the community could show, we would really be appreciative. Just having that support saying hey thank you for your service. We want you to further your education and be productive in society afterward would be awesome."
Nearly 200 veterans are going to school right now at UMD, and just like for regular students costs can be staggering.
"Even just like helping pay for books, like that's ridiculous right there and just that extra money right there could maybe take some of the stress off."