Garand Collectors Association Offers Additional Scholarship Funds to CMP Youth Athletes
By Ashley Brugnone, CMP Writer
Each year, the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP), an organization dedicated to its commitment to youth programs, offers $1,000, one-year scholarships based on merit and rifle or pistol marksmanship participation to current high school seniors.
Since 2005, CMP has awarded over $1 million in scholarship prizes. Through these scholarships, the CMP is able to uphold one of its missions of awarding those who present exceptional talent, motivation and determination within the field of marksmanship by furthering the education of the successful young adults involved within it.
Along with the $1,000 scholarships awarded by the CMP, the Garand Collectors Association (GCA) has generously donated $10,000 to the CMP to be used for additional student-athlete scholarship earnings. The Top 10 recipients, determined by CMP staff and board members, will receive an extra $1,000 toward their furthered education.
“Through strong and steady membership growth, along with good financial stewardship, the GCA has been able to assist several organizations over the years fulfill their missions,” said Andrew Hall, GCA vice-president. “We are proud of our existing relationship with the CMP.”
The mission of the GCA is: To exchange information and expand knowledge of the U.S. Rifle, Caliber .30, M1; to preserve and publicize the history of the rifle and its inventor John C. Garand; to assist and encourage new collectors; to assist authors in writing new reference works; to assist members in their collecting; and to encourage competitive and recreational safe shooting of the rifle.
“We at the GCA always refer to our mission statement when conducting GCA business, and this is no exception,” Hall continued.
“[This scholarship donation] is a little outside of the normal boundary of our mission statement. That said, we as an organization recognize that to continue our mission, younger people must become aware of our efforts,” he said.
At a recent GCA Board meeting, Hall and his associates discussed at length areas where they could emphasize youth participation.
“It seemed that a natural fit would be to focus on youth that already are in the competitive shooting world.”
The GCA has long encouraged the competitive and safe shooting of the M1 rifle and has worked closely with the CMP – even participating in the naming of the John C. Garand 600-yard range at the CMP’s Talladega Marksmanship Park.
“In that our relationship with the CMP has been healthy over many years, we saw an opportunity to help in another way,” Hall said. “We are excited at the opportunity to provide funding to deserving student/athletes with the knowledge that the legacy of the creative, unselfish and patriotic immigrant turned American, John C. Garand, will continue.”
Application forms and other CMP Scholarship information can be found by visiting http://thecmp.org/communications/cmp-scholarship-program/. For specific questions, please contact Kathy Williams at 419-635-2141, ext. 709 or email kwilliams@thecmp.org.
About the GCA: Since its beginnings in 1986, the GCA and its members have worked diligently to expand knowledge on the M1 Garand, preserve its history and to encourage and assist others in collecting the historical rifle. The GCA has also worked closely with the CMP since 2000 on sorting/grading M1 Garand rifles and encouraging competitive and recreational firearm safety.
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information about the CMP and its programs, log onto www.TheCMP.org.
