On December 3, ѿapp will once again participate in Giving Tuesday with a special campaign that will raise funds to establish and endow a scholarship in honor of the memory of Josh Beal, a ѿapp veteran student who took his own life in 2015.
Beal was an extraordinary young man who joined the Marines at age 17 and became a warfare leader, paratrooper, and EMT. He survived four tours between Iraq, Norway, and Afghanistan before acquiring a traumatic brain injury during his last deployment that forced him to leave the military.
Beal started a “new mission” at ѿapp by enrolling in classes and working as a financial aid peer mentor. At the time of his death at age 28, Beal was only a few credits away from graduating. He was awarded ѿapp’s first posthumous degree in 2016.
ѿapp’s Veteran Services Office and Faculty of Color Coalition launched fundraising efforts for the Josh Beal Memorial Scholarship in coordination with Spartan Pledge Day on Nov. 7 where Pledge Founder, Boone Cutler administered the Spartan pledge. The two lines of the Spartan Pledge are simple, and easy to keep in mind: “I will not take my own life by my own hand until I talk to my battle buddy first. My mission is to find a mission to help my warfighter family.”
The pledge is a commitment that anyone can make to be there for someone else in need of a friend or support.
This year’s Giving Tuesday Campaign will honor Beal and continue the promise of the Spartan Pledge. All funds raised on Giving Tuesday will be combined with Spartan Pledge Day funds to fund the Josh Beal Memorial Scholarship that will benefit a ѿapp student veteran.
“Our goal is to raise at least $5,000 to establish a scholarship endowment that will serve as a living memorial to Josh, his service to our country, and help other ѿapp student veterans. We also hope to bring greater awareness to veteran suicide and the struggles veterans can have as a result of combat, deployment, and readjusting to civilian life,” said Felipe Gutierrez De Alba, ѿapp Veterans Program Coordinator.
We invite you to join us on Dec. 3 for Giving Tuesday by contributing to this special campaign to establish the Josh Beal Memorial Scholarship. If you would like to make your donation early, . Please indicate The Josh Beal Memorial Scholarship as your gift designation.
For additional information about the ѿapp Foundation or the Josh Beal Memorial Scholarship, please contact ѿapp’s Scholarship Manager Becky Josten.